Search and Rescue
by sym64
Summary: Steve gets hurt while being kidnapped from his home. Will his friends and Catherine be able to save him from his abductors and from himself? Lots of angst, hurt, comfort and a little romance. / This story was written without the help of my two great beta readers, so be aware of grammar mistakes.
1. Chapter 1  Missing

**Search and Rescue**

This is my second story for Hawaii Five-0 and I hope you will enjoy it somewhat. I'm eternally grateful to my great beta reader Kristi, who patiently battled with my terrible grammar. Thank you so much, without you this story would never have seen the light of day. All remaining mistakes are still mine.

Disclaimer: Anyone who thinks that any part of Hawaii Five-0 belongs to me should think again.

Rating: T

Summary: Steve goes missing from his home in the middle of the night. What is the Navy's involvement into his disappearance and will they be of any help in the search and hopefully ultimate rescue of Steve? Will his friends be able to reach him in time or will he succumb to his injuries while trapped in a confused and scary mindset. Will Steve be able to search his own mind to rescue what is left of his sanity?

Spoiler: takes place after "Ma Ke Kahakai" (1x20) and obviously before the finale, tiny references to various episodes.

**Chapter 1 - Missing**

Steve McGarrett is listening to the rain outside. The house is quiet and he wonders what woke him up at 3.30 at night. Quietly, to not disturb the still sleeping Catherine, he gets out of bed to get something to drink. He doesn't expect any intruders; with his newly installed top notch alarm system it is almost impossible to get into the house without tripping the alarm. He upgraded it just last week. _You can never be too careful._ Well at least he thinks so. He smiles, thinking about what Danny will say if he ever mentions to him that he's a very considerate person. He can actually hear Danny's laughter if he ever dares to tell him that.

But it's true: Steve is a very considerate, careful, and deliberate person. Of course, Danny always thinks that he rushes in without thinking about his actions. But nothing can be further from the truth: it is just that Danny doesn't get the concept of being as highly trained as Steve is. He's not one to talk about what he can actually do, what he did on countless missions with the SEALs, or with Naval Intelligence. Maybe he will see some of Steve's actions in a different light, if he knew some of the stuff that he has done. But that musing is actually moot, since most of his missions are classified anyway. _So better not to dwell on it any longer._ With that thought he gets back into the here and now. He is just about to switch on the light in the kitchen when a light explodes behind his eyes. The pain that accompanies the vicious hit to the head doesn't even have time to register before he hits the floor and all lights go out.

H50 - H50 - H50

Catherine wakes up to an empty bed. Nothing unusual, since Steve likes to go for an early swim. She hurries into the shower and gets ready pretty quick, all in the hope that he will return from his morning activities so that they can have breakfast together. When she enters the kitchen, she wonders about why she can't smell any coffee. Normally the first thing Steve does in the morning is to make his famous coffee. Not so today. So she busies herself in the kitchen, but after about twenty minutes she gets a bit worried.

"Steve," Cath calls into the "workshop", as she calls it. Steve of course calls it his garage. As if there will ever be a car in it that actually works. She has to smile at the memory of Danny telling her the story of the nine-mile-trip. Of course she will never tell Steve that she highly doubts his ability to get that old car running again. Not that he's not capable, but a mechanic he is not. And she was sure that without help, that monstrous car will never run again, at least not much more than nine miles anyway.

"Steve?" He is definitely not in the house, but it doesn't look like he left the house either. So where the heck is he?

H50 - H50 - H50

Consciousness comes slowly back to Steve. First there is sound, talking actually. But he can't make out the voices, can't understand a word that is said. It is just a mumbled mess. Steve tries to focus on it, but to no avail. It only makes him more dizzy and nauseous. He has a hard time to not toss his cookies. He tries to open his eyes, but they won't obey, he only manages to open them to small slits, but even that little light brings an onslaught of pain. The pain in his head intensifies to an unbearable level, which only makes him feel sicker. After just a few seconds, he looses his battle with his stomach and gets violently sick. That of course brings on another wave of pain and this time he can't fight the beckoning darkness any longer. He surrenders to it, not without a fight, but it is no use. Before he falls to the floor face first, just narrowly missing his own puddle of vomit, he has the thought that something is seriously wrong.

H50 - H50 - H50

"Steve, what can I do for you on a Saturday at, wait let me check, 7.30 in the morning," Danny Williams almost growls into his phone, after he identifies the caller ID.

"Uh, hi Danny, it's not Steve. It's Catherine."

Danny is instantly awake; he just knows that something must be wrong, "Hi Catherine, is everything okay? Where is Steve?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm calling. Danny this is really strange, he is just not here. He was last night, but now he is not."

Danny is looking at his phone in wonder. Lt. Catherine Rollins, highly trained Naval Officer and "girlfriend", or whatever their relationship is, of SuperSeal, doesn't make any sense and sounds not like her at all.

"Cath, calm down, I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't go anywhere, don't touch anything, I'll be right there."

Danny is already out of bed and half-dressed when he hangs up and makes a call to Chin. He tells him to meet him at Steve's as soon as possible. To his credit, Chin Ho Kelly doesn't even question Danny; he just tells him that he will be there shortly. Danny's out the door and on the way to his friend's house in no time. He makes it there in less than ten minutes. So does Chin, who drives into the driveway right behind him.

"Hey brah, what's going on?"

"I don't know, let's find out."

Cath opens the door to let them in.

"Danny, Chin thank you for coming. I don't know what's going on, maybe nothing, I don't know." Catherine knows they must think that she is losing it, but she just doesn't care. She has never lost her head before, but on the other hand she has never lost her "boyfriend", wow is that what Steve suddenly is, she wonders briefly, before either, so maybe it is okay to lose it just a little bit. She knows that she is acting like a scared girlfriend and not like a Naval Officer, but she just can't help it.

"Catherine, tell us what happened," Danny asks.

"Okay. When I woke up this morning, Steve was already gone. That is not unusual; he really is an early riser and likes to go for an early swim. So I didn't think much of it. But when I went down to the kitchen, there was no coffee."

Chin and Danny look at her questioningly.

"You see, it's kind of a ritual. Steve gets up and the first thing he does is make coffee, so that when I get up, there is already the smell of coffee in the air. I think it's kind of sweet."

"So no coffee," Danny can't hide the smile that creeps onto his face when he thinks about this domestic side of his partner.

"No, no coffee. Then I realized that his board-shorts were still in the bedroom. Steve always puts out his clothes for the next day; it's a SEAL thing I guess. I don't know-he just does it. Anyway, his swim trunks are still there. So I think he is not out for a swim or a run. But he's not in the house. I just don't know where he is."

"Chin can you check the alarm system, see if it was turned off at any time?"

"Sure, no problem, we'll know in a minute." With that, he goes to the control panel to check the system for anything out of the ordinary.

"Catherine, did anything happen last night or in the evening? Did he get any phone calls?"

"No nothing happened. It was a really quiet evening. We had an early dinner, Steve was pretty tired, he wasn't feeling well. So we just cuddled on the couch watched some movie, at around 8.30 he fell asleep. I let him sleep till past 10pm. Then we went to bed, we both fell asleep pretty quickly."

"What do you mean he wasn't feeling well, was he sick?"

"No, not really, like I said he was really tired. Maybe he is coming down with a cold or something. He had a headache and he was kind of queasy. He was not sick, just not well."

"So you went to bed together and this morning he was just gone?"

"Yeah. I know how stupid that sounds, but. . ."

"No, not stupid at all," Chin is back and he is not looking happy.

"What is it?"

"The alarm system was off from 3:25 to 3:40 am."

"So Steve turned it off in the middle of the night for fifteen minutes? Why?"

"No, Steve didn't do it. It was turned off and on from outside. If Steve turned it off and left the house, it would have been turned off from the inside and turned back on from the outside. But it was both from outside."

"So he was taken?" Catherine voices the question that is on all of their minds.

H50 - H50 - H50

Please let me know what you think. Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2  Still in the Dark

_**I am completely blown away by the response I received for the first chapter. Thank you all so much! Thank you for all the alerts and the reviews, you really made my day.**_

_**Of course now the pressure is on and I hope to not disappoint you guys.**_

**Chapter 2 - Still in the dark**

"Wake him up, this is getting ridiculous. He is out for four hours now. They hit him way too hard, the boss will not be happy."

"Hey man that guy is a Navy SEAL; do you have any idea what he would do with us if he were not out?"

"Yeah yeah, look at him he is not looking so tough now. Shit man, is he even breathing?"

Steve hears the two goons talking but can't make much sense of it. _Who the hell are they and what do they want with him anyway?_ He tries to stay still, let them think he is out. Some part of him wishes he still was. His head is going to explode in the next minute, he is sure of it. Hot searing pain goes through his skull, from the back of his head, where he was hit, to his forehead. His nose is bleeding slightly and he's sure that he can feel blood trickling down the side of his head. He realizes that he might not just have a concussion but a skull fracture as well. _Great, just what I need_, he thinks morosely.

Suddenly he feels a boot connect with his ribs. He can't suppress the cry of pain.

"See he is breathing just fine."

"Stop that damn it, we need him later on. Commander can you hear me? Are you with us?"

The taller of the two is crouching down to Steve's level on the floor. His first mistake. Steve is not thinking; his training just kicks in. He drives his left fist with all the strength that is left in him into the nose of the tall man. He hears the distinctive noise of breaking bones, followed by a cry of pain. He's not sure if the cry comes from himself or "tall guy". Through his arm shoots a hot pain, like when he broke his arm a few weeks back. He just got rid of the cast a week ago and he's sure that his doctor didn't mean by taking it easy on the arm to hit another man full force.

"Tall guy" tries to get to his feet, his second mistake. That gave Steve the opportunity to get a hard kick to his kidnapper's kneecap. Another crunching noise is the satisfying result. One down, one to go. Unfortunately the second guy isn't as stupid as "tall guy". Steve is just about to get to his feet, not an easy task in itself, the room is spinning like crazy, when he hears a buzzing sound. The next thing he knows is the unmistakable searing pain of a Taser gun. He goes down hard. And this time, he stays down.

H50 - H50 - H50

Danny is pacing. All the way around the couch in the living room. He's livid with anger. But he can't voice his anger, since there is no target to address his anger to. That's what's making him pace, he needs to get rid of the anger that's building inside him. "So what you're saying is that there is nothing here? Nothing? No sign of forced entry, no struggle, nothing disturbed? I find that hard to believe."

"Danny, there is nothing to get from here. If we didn't know better we would never guess that this is a crime scene."

"Chin, you can't tell me that Steve just vanished without a trace. That man is a SEAL; he is not just taken out by some thugs and taken against his will without a fight. There should at least be some sign of a struggle," Danny's frustrated and he knows it's not fair to take it out on Chin.

"Well maybe he still wasn't feeling well and never even saw the attacker. I think it is pretty safe to assume that he was taken from downstairs," Chin looks at Catherine.

"If anything happened upstairs, I would have heard it."

"Yeah well, you didn't hear him leaving the bed," Danny clarified what he was thinking, "Would he have woken you up if he was feeling sick?"

"Yeah he would have. I know he is not big on sharing something like that with his team or even you, but he tells _me_ if he is in pain or not well. He even called me when he fell on your hiking trip, can you believe that? Right after he was treated in the hospital. He doesn't hide anything like that from me anymore; we've known each other for a long time, Danny. So yeah, I'm sure he would have woken me up."

"So we can assume that he was not sick or incapacitated before the attack. That still doesn't explain why there was no struggle."

"Maybe there was no attack and he went willingly without a fight with whoever was in the house."

"I doubt that Chin, but at the moment we can't be sure of anything."

Again it was Catherine who voiced the most obvious question that no one had addressed yet.

"How the hell did they get into the house in the first place? The alarm system is not just something you can buy at the store. He got in contact with the Navy and had them install it. It is NOT some random security system. We should check the security log at the base. They should have recorded something."

"What are you talking about? What recordings," Chin asks, he knows that the system is way out of his league, but Steve showed him how to access it, but he doesn't know anything about a log at the Navy base.

"I'm talking about the data recordings, Chin. All kind of data will be recorded as soon as the code to deactivate the system is punched in. Heat signature, video, satellite surveillance and some things I don't even know about. It is recording as long as the system is turned off or as long as you stop the recording with a code after entering the house. This system is fairly new, but it is going to be installed in high ranking officer's homes. Mostly for admirals and diplomats and such. Steve would not be on that list, but his first priority is safety, so he made a deal to get two of those systems. Don't ask me what he had to do to get them. I don't know, but he said the sacrifice was worth it."

"Two? Where did he install the second one?"

"He said he needed to make sure that Gracie was safe. He convinced Stan to let it be installed."

"He didn't tell me about that. Why didn't he tell me," Danny can't understand why his friend didn't tell him about the security system for his family. "I would have been happy to have extra security for Grace, so why didn't he tell me about it? Catherine-there is more to it, isn't it?"

"Well yeah there is. Three weeks ago he put a security detail on them. He said it was just a precaution and he didn't want to worry you. Danny, calm down, he said that there was no evidence at all that there was anything to happen to them, just that he had a funny feeling and that it would make him feel better. Don't be mad at him Danny, it's just how he is, he is always looking out for his family and friends."

"So he had HPD sitting on them? I never saw anyone when I was with Grace."

"No. Not HPD. He has Naval Intelligence watching over them."

"What? How the hell did he get them to do that? He is not even on active duty anymore."

"Guys, as fascinating I think this is, don't you think we should concentrate on finding Steve first and ask him about all this then?"

"Chin that is what we're doing right now. I'm sure this is all connected. Please Catherine tell us everything you know about that "deal" he made."

"Steve might not be on active duty anymore, you're right about that. But he is a highly respected officer; he did some incredible things for the Navy, for his country. Things he can't talk about, he wouldn't talk about, even if he could. His superiors know what he is capable of; what he did during his career. They value him in the highest regard. So if he asked for something like a security detail, I'm sure they were more than willing to make a deal with him. I don't know what they asked of him for this Danny. He said that any sacrifice he had to make to keep the ones he loves safe is worth it."

"That SOB! He is offering himself up to keep us safe from whatever threat there might be. If he is not coming back in one piece, I'm going to kill him myself," Danny looked into the shocked faces of Chin and Catherine.

"What?"

"It's nice to know you care so much, brah."

"Yeah right whatever. Chin we need to get Kono. We still need to investigate his disappearance. I mean there still could be another reason for it. You and Kono canvass the neighborhood; maybe someone heard or saw something. Catherine and I will go and take a look at the recorded data. We meet later at HQ."

H50 - H50 - H50

_I know the story is still a little light on the Steve-part, but don't worry that will change soon. Would love to hear from you._


	3. Chapter 3  Waking up

**_Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts. You have no idea how much I appreciate it._**

_**Now on with the story. Here is chapter 3, later today I will also post number 4. Would love to hear from you.**_

**Chapter 3 - Waking up**

Steve's first conscious thought is that he is lying on a bed. He is propped up on soft pillows and the overhead light is dimmed. He looks around and it becomes clear that he's on a boat. A yacht of some sort. That explains the rolling sensation he feels. Of course that can also be contributing to his headache and nausea he's still experiencing. As long as he doesn't move, he's not dizzy. _Thank you for small favors._ His thoughts are interrupted by a voice from the door.

"Commander. Good to see you awake. How are you feeling? The doctor just gave you something for the pain and nausea; it should kick in any minute. You will feel better soon."

"Who the hell are you and where am I?"

"Commander McGarrett I'm very disappointed that you don't remember me. We've met before."

"I don't think so. What do you want with me?"

"Everything will be explained to you in a little while. In the meantime please get dressed; we can't have you running around in your sleep shorts and a t-shirt. You will find clothes in the bathroom. You think you can manage or should I send some help?"

Steve can only stare, not saying anything. He is still trying to slip into the role he has to play.

"Please don't try to escape. We have orders to shoot you if necessary. That would complicate our mission, but if you don't cooperate, you will be executed. I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

Steve looks after the man and gets into a sitting position, surprised when the room doesn't lose its axis. The nausea is also at a bearable level. If his head stops hurting so bad, he will almost be grateful. Well as grateful as one could be in a situation like this. When he stands up, he has to grab onto the side of the table in front of him. He does so with his left arm; big mistake. Pain shoots from just below the elbow down to his wrist.

"Argh fuck," he cradles his arm with his right one to his chest. He is grateful that the pain subsides as quickly as it comes on. There is nothing to be seen on the outside of the forearm, but he's sure that he injured it again, hopefully not too badly.

He makes his way to the bathroom, figuring that his chances of surviving will improve if he's dressed and has some shoes on.

When in the small bathroom he feels nature calling and takes care of business first. The clothes he find look like his, but aren't, they're brand new, but fit perfectly. After slowly dressing he splashes some water onto his face in the hope of cooling down some. He feels warm and is sure that has nothing to do with the temperature in the room. One look into the mirror confirms it: he doesn't just only feel like death warmed over, he also looks the part. This is not how it is supposed to happen. He is not to start his mission, his "deal", before next week. He doesn't have his briefing yet, his team is not informed, nor the Governor or Catherine. Shit! Catherine! She must be worried sick. She will probably have figured out by now that something has happened to him. Probably has called Danny by now. _He's going to kill me, when he finds out what's going on._ Steve's musings are interrupted by someone calling his name. One last look into the mirror and he goes to meet his kidnappers.

H50 - H50 – H50

There's no sound coming from the three members of Five-0 and Catherine as they watch the recordings Danny and Catherine got from the base.

At 3:25 am, the alarm system was turned off and the recording of the cameras began. On the 4-way split screen, they can clearly see three men entering through the back door, going to the kitchen. They waited, pressed into the darkness of the walls. At 3:34 am Steve came down the stairs, only clad in sleep shorts and T-shirt and not armed. He was clearly not expecting anyone in the house. When he entered the kitchen, one of the men hit him with some kind of short club on the back of the head. He went down and hit the kitchen floor hard with his forehead. After that, he didn't move at all. It only took a few more minutes before the three intruders carried him out through the back door, obviously down to the beach. But that couldn't be seen, since the alarm system was back on and the recording ended.

"That blow to the head was brutal; he has to have a concussion. Let's hope that he is okay. Kono can you see if you can get anything on the three guys, can you try to get a clear picture of the footage?"

"Why aren't they wearing masks," Kono asks while she's transferring the video file to her workstation.

"They don't care if they are identified. They're either not in the system or they know that it doesn't matter if they are identified. Either way is equally bad."

"Danny, they looked very military. Very trained, professional and efficient. They are not some thugs."

"No they are not," a deep voice interrupts their conversation.

"Admiral," Catherine Rollins stands at attention while greeting Admiral Davies.

"Lieutenant, Detectives. I'm Admiral Davies and I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances."

"Do you know where Steve is," Danny doesn't even bother with any greetings and comes right to the point.

"Yes Detective I do and he is all right. You must be Danny Williams. I heard a lot about you. Steve is very vocal about you. You made quite an impression on him, and believe me it's not easy to impress Commander McGarrett."

"I take it you've known him longer than I have?"

The Admiral smiles at that, "Actually Detective I've known Stevie since he was born. I served under his father, we were good friends. I'm here to fill you in on what is going on."

"Please do that. We can go into Steve's office."

They lead the Admiral into their leader's office and offered him Steve's chair to sit in. The others take places on the couch and the visitor's chairs, while Danny keep standing.

"Three weeks ago," the Admiral begins, "Steve came to see me in my office. We've seen each other regularly since he is back in Hawaii, but this time was different. He was distraught, really worried. He told me something happened with the investigation of Wo Fat and that he was worried that Wo Fat was going to get Steve through the people he loves and cares about. He said he couldn't loose another member of his family, his Ohana. He would do anything to protect them. I arranged for security details on all three of you and on your daughter right away."

"Wait, we've had men following us the last 3 weeks," Chin exclaims.

"Yes Detective Kelly, all of you are under the protection of the United States Navy. No worries these men are very discreet, you didn't even know they are there."

"Why didn't Steve tell us any of this? Catherine did you know about this," Danny isn't sure if he's angry, or hurt by the lack of trust by Steve.

"No I didn't."

"Detective. Danny, please don't hold this against him. He wanted to tell you, but I ordered him not to do so. If you knew you would try to spot them and that would put everyone at risk. I told him to wait a few weeks to see if there was anything going on. There is not, as far as we know there is no one plotting any attack on any of you. Steve and I agreed on telling you on Wednesday after his briefing."

"Briefing? What briefing?"

"Well that is the part where we're coming to the deal. You see I owe Steve the life of my son. I would give Steve any favor he wanted, but Steve is not one to cash in any favors."

"How do you owe him your son's life," Chin wants to know.

"Steve and David were on a reconnaissance mission when their chopper went down behind enemy lines. David was badly injured, he shattered his left femur. Steve got away with a concussion and fractured ribs. But he still carried my son almost ten miles through enemy lines. Don't ask me how he managed to do that. He said he crashed the chopper, it was his responsibility to get his partner out. So he did. Of course, he didn't crash the chopper; it was engine failure, there was nothing he could have done to prevent the crash. But that is Steve for you always taking responsibility. Anyway. Steve wouldn't hear of me paying him back for what he did. So I threw in two security systems and for that and the security details I got him to do an op for us."

"Are you telling us that he is on a mission?"

"No! He is not. He was very adamant about it; he would not go on any op if he couldn't inform his team and you, Lieutenant, about his absence. He wouldn't be able to give you any details, but you would have known why he would be gone for about a week. That briefing was supposed to be on Wednesday. That is when he wanted to inform you of all the things that he set in motion. Please believe me he was planning this very carefully and he only had your safety and best interest in mind."

The Admiral looks the team over and tries to gage their reaction to what he just told them, "Something went wrong. The intended target grabbed Steve last night. We didn't see it coming. It is our fault. But we have a man on the inside, who unfortunately shattered his knee in some way, so I don't know how much more Information we're going to get but he was able to get us some Intel. Steve is hurt, they hit him way harder than they intended. I don't know how bad it is, but our Intel said that he was unconscious for almost 4 hours. But they had him treated by a doctor so let's hope that he will be okay. After all, they do need him, which should keep him alive."

"Who the hell is 'they' and what do they want him to do?"

"I'm sorry Detective Williams, I can't tell you that. It's classified."

"Don't give me that crap. Someone snatches our friend from his home. Someone hurt him. I don't care about your classified crap."

"Do you care about your friend, detective?" For the first time, Davies raises his voice, "Then you would know that he cares about this classified crap a lot. He would never betray his duty. And he would never want you to do it either. So I'm sorry but I have told you a lot more than I should have. I will work with you on this; I will not only keep you informed but I will get you on board. But that is the best I can do. I cannot tell you what this is all about. But I can tell you that it is about a serious threat to the State of Hawaii. Hawaii is the most important port for the whole fleet of the Pacific, so be sure that we take any threat against the State very seriously."

H50 - H50 – H50

Thanks for reading.

Little Sneak Peek into the next chapter which will be posted later today.

**Chapter 4 - First Contact**

Steve barely registers that he is roughly picked up from the deck and put into a seat. He tries to breathe through the pain that is racing through his body. He feels sick to his stomach but he is adamant not to puke in front of these men. Cold sweat breaks out on his forehead. He knows that he must be a ghostly white. _Or maybe I'm actually green_; that thought makes him laugh.


	4. Chapter 4 First Contact

_**You have no idea how happy I am that so many of you seem to like this story. I had so much fun writing it.  
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_**Hope you will enjoy the ride. Hang on tight it's going to get a little rough.**_

**Chapter 4 - First Contact**

Steve can't really believe what he's seeing. The boat he is on is way bigger than he originally thought, it even has a helipad. On it is a pretty big chopper, big enough to at least transport eight to ten people. He's led out onto the deck of the yacht, where four men are waiting for him. All of them are clad in the same clothes he was wearing. Standard BDU's. If he didn't know better, he would think he were on a normal mission with his Navy buddies. But this is far from the truth. First his Navy Teammates wouldn't knock him out and kidnap him, and second he didn't know any of these guys.

He takes a look around and sees in one corner "tall guy", whose nose he broke earlier. He's sitting down with his leg propped up; sporting a brace on his knee, and sending a murderous look Steve's way.

Two more men are also sitting on a bench along the railing. They are obviously military trained men, they ooze discipline and confidence. There's no doubt in Steve's mind that these two are the most dangerous of the bunch.

In the middle of the deck is the obvious boss of the operation. He is tall, even taller than Steve.

"Sir! Commander McGarrett is here now."

When they approach, he turns around. Steve is sure that he never saw him before in his life.

"Commander, please excuse the rough treatment. I apologize for my men. I hope you feel better."

His voice is soft and smooth, which only makes it clear to Steve that this guy is dangerous. He decides to play along, "Thank you, I do feel better. Why am I here, who are you?"

"I'm Commander Donald Jefferson."

"Commander? Commander of what? These nutjobs here," Steve just can't help himself; he needs to know what kind of people he's dealing with. And to rail them up will help him do that.

Suddenly Jefferson is in his face screaming, "You will respect my rank Lt. Commander!" Before Steve even has a chance to react, mostly due to the effects of his concussion, he's grabbed by the lapels of his jacket and Jefferson knees him in the groin. The vicious kick would fell any man and Steve is no exception.

Steve barely registers that he is roughly picked up from the floor and put into a seat. He tries to breathe through the pain that is racing through his body. He feels sick to his stomach but he is adamant not to puke in front of these men. Cold sweat breaks out on his forehead. He knows that he must be a ghostly white. _Or maybe I'm actually green_; that thought makes him laugh.

"What the hell are you laughing about?"

The men all look at him like he's some alien or something. He would probably have the same look if he saw someone, who was just kicked by an inch to never procreate again, but laughed out loud as if that was the best joke ever. Steve can't help it, he laughs on, of course if he didn't, he would probably cry. Due to his head injury, he's not himself, he can't compartmentalize. He can't shut out the pain. He's in such agony, he only wants to curl into himself and pass out. It worked the last time he was kicked like that.

He remembers it like it was yesterday. It was at football practice and he was fifteen. One of his teammates landed with his knee full force on him. He couldn't walk for three days without a limp. Back then he had the luxury to pass out and let the coach take care of him. But he can't do that right now. So he just laughs and hopes for his brain to clear and him being able to focus again.

Next thing he knows, he's being slapped. Steve wishes for some less painful method to stop his hysterics, but it works, he stops laughing. He looks blurry-eyed at the "Commander".

"Are you done now? Or should I continue hitting you?"

"No that's fine, I'm done," Steve notices that his speech is slightly slurred, not noticeable to the outside but to him. It worries him to no end. He starts to believe that his head injury is way more serious than he thought, which explains his very strange behavior from just a minute ago.

"McGarrett! Commander!"

Steve feels hands on him that are slightly shaking him. He hasn't even realized that he passed out for a few seconds. He is lowered to the deck and a pillow appears under his head. _First they beat you to a pulp, and then they care about you like this_, Steve thinks that these guys are even crazier than he first thought.

He becomes more aware about what's going on around him. A light is shown into his eyes.

"Ahhh, stop that. I'm fine."

"Well he is not worse than half an hour ago. But he is far from fine," the new guy, obviously the Doctor, is speaking.

"He will probably pass out again without a moment's notice. The concussion is a serious one and I can't guarantee that there is not at least a hairline fracture of the skull involved. I can't say without a cat scan. But I don't think that there is any swelling of the brain, or he would probably not be conscious. But bleeding is still a high possibility if he keeps running around like this."

"OK, so we better waste no more time. Get him strapped into the chopper; we're leaving in five minutes."

"Yes Sir." With that Steve is picked up from the deck, a movement that leaves him momentarily dizzy, and is guided to the chopper. He is secured in his seat and left to his own devices. Not that he is able to do anything anyway. He closes his eyes for a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He still has no idea what his role in all this is, or what this is even about. In the last few hours, he was taken from his home by force, brought to an unknown location where he first woke up, there he was tased and hurt his previously broken arm again. Then he woke up on a yacht. A big one. Treated by some doctor only to get kicked where it really hurts and to pass out again. That kick really pisses him off. That was damn unfair. There it is again, he sounds like a five year old. _What the hell is the matter with me_? He's not closer to figuring anything out when the crew comes back and the engines of the chopper are started.

H50 - H50 -H50

The five people in the office watch in horror the scenes that played in front of them. Right after Admiral Davies finished his story his phone rang, and he was informed that they had a live feed of their suspects.

Chin uses the given information to link into the channel to see the feed. What they see makes them hold their breath. There's Steve; led onto the deck of a yacht.

The relief to see their friend alive is short lived. The men in the room cringe in sympathy when Steve goes down. All five of them worry when they see that he obviously looses it after that. They never saw him like that, almost hysterical. It's obvious to them that he must be seriously hurt to act like that.

"Admiral, please we have to get him out of there. Whatever his mission is, he can't do that," Catherine almost pleads.

"Catherine is right Sir, you have to end this," Danny's gaze is still glued to the screen after his friend was led to the helicopter and they took off.

"Admiral, the man they left on the boat is that your man on the inside," Chin is pointing to the only guy left on the deck.

But before Davies can say anything, the yacht is engulfed in a ball of fire. A fierce explosion blows the big yacht almost out of the water. Smaller explosions follow, but it's clear that no one on that boat is still alive. It already begins to sink.

"Oh my god they left him there to die."

"He outlived his purpose, Lieutenant. With the leg-injury he was of no use to them anymore, at least let's hope that was the reason for it. The other possibility is that he was made, but let's not go there."

On the screen appears the Ensign who established the link before.

"Admiral, we're losing contact to the satellite. We just lost the signal of the chopper. The whole system is down. We don't know what's going on."

They could see a lot of activity in the background, some of the screens were black but were slowly coming back to live.

"Ensign what is going on?"

"Sir, we lost the signal to the chopper, he is not on the radar either. We don't know where he went. It seems that they knew we were on to them and they just went dark. I'm sorry Sir."

With that their link to the base ends.

"How can you lose him? You're the freaking Army. How could you lose the freaking signal," Danny is shouting. He is so close to losing it himself. He reminds himself to calm down.

"Navy Detective, we're Navy," the Admiral absently answers.

"What the fuck," Danny is just starting when the voice of reason is heard.

"Gentlemen, please, calm down. This is not helping," Chin's words carry weight, without even a raised voice.

"What do we do now? How are we going to find Steve and get him out of there," Catherine looks at the others, but none of them have an immediate answer for her.

H50 - H50 - H50

Sneak-Peek into the next Chapter

**Chapter 5 - Downed**

Steve sits in the very back of the helicopter; he can't understand what the men in front of him are talking about, since no one has given him headphones. The ride in the chopper is an extremely loud one and he wonders briefly if his head will explode before or after he passes out from the pain. He can't help the groan that escapes, not that anyone will hear him anyway. The men are all facing the front of the chopper and no one is paying any attention to him.


	5. Chapter 5  Downed

**_I apologize in advance for taking a little detour with Steve before we go on with the plot. I couldn't help myself, Steve is such a nice target for whumpage, so I decided we need a little more (ok I admit a lot more) of that first. _**

**Chapter 5 - Downed**

Steve sits in the very back of the helicopter; he can't understand what the men in front of him are talking about, since no one has given him headphones. The ride in the chopper is an extremely loud one and he wonders briefly if his head will explode before or after he passes out from the pain. He can't help the groan that escapes, not that anyone will hear him anyway. The men are all facing the front of the chopper and no one is paying any attention to him.

Back in the chopper where he's sitting are no windows, so he can't be sure if they are still over land or over water again. The helicopter is big enough to have a passenger cabin that is separated from the cockpit. In front of him is an unoccupied row of four seats, two on the right and two on the left. The layout of the chopper resembles more of a plane than a helicopter. He can see two more rows further ahead in the front of the chopper. Between the back and the front rows is a room of about seven feet, more than enough room for the big sliding door. This is a very unusual helicopter, one he's never seen before. It's obviously a custom made one for someone with a lot of money, probably the same one who owns the yacht.

Steve has no idea how long they are airborne when the chopper suddenly dips to the side. Right after that the aircraft levels out again, but he knows that something must be wrong. The men in front of him are loudly screaming. The only thing he can do is make sure that his seatbelt is fastened.

Suddenly, the middle of the chopper is hit by some force from the outside. It looks like the door is blasted inside. Steve instantly realizes that they were hit by a missile. Chaos erupts around him.

Steve has been in a helicopter crash before; an experience he doesn't look forward to going through again. But he's never been shot down before. Never in more than fifteen years of military service has he had to go through the horrible moments of going down in a ball of fire. Okay maybe he's exaggerating some, since there is no fire. For a second, he wonders why they don't explode on impact, but he's thankful for it all the same. The moments he's experiencing are horrible enough without the fire of an explosion. He just hopes that they are not too high up in the air but high enough so that the pilot can at least try to land this thing somehow. Of course he has no idea if the blades are still attached to the chopper. The shaking of the aircraft gets more violent by the second and he wonders if there is even a pilot still at the helm. If he could see the cockpit, he would know that the pilot is lifeless in his seat. A shrapnel has lodged into his head and killed him instantly.

Before Steve has time to think any more about what might happen next, they hit the ground. He is shoved with such force into the side of the seat that he almost passes out right there and then. But he is not so lucky; he has to experience the full crash, since hitting the ground is not the end of it. The back of the aircraft is ripped away from the rest of it and the remains of it roll a few times before it comes to a halt upside down. All with him sitting in his seat and getting hit by flying debris and violently hitting the hard side of his seat a few times. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, but is in reality just a few seconds, it is all over and an eerie quiet settles over the jungle and the crash site. That is when Steve blissfully passes out.

H50 – H50 – H50

While Steve is hanging helplessly in a downed wreck, the remaining Five-0 members are trying to get the Admiral to tell them anything that might be helpful to find their friend.

"Lieutenant I like you to stay with the Five-0's to work as a liaison between their investigation and the Navy."

"Yes Sir, of course."

"I will see that you get all the unclassified information on the group as soon as possible. It will probably not be of much use, since we already know that Steve is with them. It won't tell you much about their operation."

"We still appreciate all the information you can get us." Danny is not happy with the development. He is used to active investigations, but with the Navy involved, there is not much that they can do. They practically have to wait for the Navy to find Steve, again. A situation that is very unsatisfying.

But they hear from them sooner than they expect.

"Admiral we have an incoming call from your command center. Should I put it on speaker?"

"Please Chin."

"Sir this is Lieutenant Ho. Sir, I need to inform you about an incident over Molokai. An unmarked Helicopter was entering the temporary no fly zone at the quadrant where Target X is at the moment. Warning shots were fired, but they kept going. After that they were shot down Sir. They crashed from about 500 feet. The terrain is not very accessible; Rescue teams are on their way. We will keep you informed about the progress."

"Do you know if there were any survivors," Admiral Davies wants to know.

"Sir we don't know yet. The chances are not very good; they were shot down by a missile. I'm sorry Sir."

"Thank you Lieutenant, we will go to Molokai right away."

With that, the call ends and a deadly quiet settles over the HQ of Five-0. Everyone is trying to come to terms with the knowledge that the head of their Task Force was probably just downed by a missile and most likely dead.

"Who is Target X," asks Kono quietly.

"I can't tell you. . .ah what the heck. The President."

"Of the United States? I didn't know that he was here."

"No one should know; that is why there is a no-fly zone and that is why that chopper was shot down. They don't take any chances."

"Why did they fly into a no-fly-zone? That is just plain stupid," Chin is trying to figure out what is behind the whole Steve-kidnapping and part of the answer is probably to be found in Molokai.

"I don't know, but we won't find out by staying here any longer. Admiral can you get us transportation to Molokai?"

"Yes you can fly with me; I'm going to arrange for an aircraft. Meet me at Hickam in half an hour." With that he left and was on his way to the Air Force Base. The Five-0's and Lieutenant Rollins shortly behind him.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve feels pressure on his hip and groin, nothing too painful but very uncomfortable. He tries to move a little to alleviate some of the pressure, but even that little movement makes it a lot worse and he can't suppress a sharp intake of breath.

He realizes that the pressure he feels is his own weight pressing the seatbelt into his body. He opens his eyes to get a clearer picture of his predicament, what he sees does nothing to ease his worries. He hangs almost head down in his seat. The only thing keeping him from sliding to the floor, or as he now could see the ceiling, is his seatbelt which is pressed painfully into his lap.

His hands can reach the ceiling easily, so he thinks it won't be a big drop to get out of the seat. He braces himself with one arm as best he can against the ceiling and releases the clasp of the seatbelt. The drop down is not as smooth as he hopes it would be, but he doesn't injure himself any further. He lies still for a few moments to catch his breath and take stock of his injuries. He has a hard time focusing on his surroundings, hanging upside down for how long he has no idea, is not helping his concussion. The pain of the early hours is back full force. The blood from a cut above his right eye runs into his eye, now that he is upright again. Well almost upright.

Steve slowly moves into a half sitting position, this way he can breathe more easily, but it intensifies the pain that radiates from his right hip across his abdomen and down his leg. The vicious kick to the groin he received earlier still smarts some, so that makes it even worse. But he can move his legs without problem which means that nothing is broken, just badly bruised. He doesn't think that his ribs are that lucky, at least one of them shifts under his careful testing. Nauseating pain erupts in his side by his prodding.

Steve stops his inventory and tries to ease his erratic breathing. The urge to just lay back, close his eyes and pass out is overwhelming but he knows if he gives in to it, he'll die. Dying from his injuries if untreated or killed by his kidnappers who are still around somewhere. As long as he moves, he has a chance to get away more or less in one piece. But if he gives in to exhaustion and pain, he will slip into shock and that will most likely be the end of it. No, he has to move, get away and to safety, wherever that might be.

Careful of his ribs, he shifts into standing up, he manages only a crouching position, which has less to do with the low space he is in, than with the pain in his lower abdomen. Slowly, always watching not to bump into anything, he makes his way outside. It is clear to him, if his broken rib shifts and pierces his lung, well than he doesn't even need to wait for shock to set in to kill him.

Once outside, he gets his first look at the crash site. It's disastrous; right out of a movie and he can't believe that he survived it. The chopper is broken in three pieces, the cockpit lies about fifty yards away and the middle about twenty yards the other way. He is in the back of the chopper, which is the most destroyed part of the aircraft. He knows that the first rule of survival after a plane crash is to stay at the crash site. It is easier for rescue teams to find a crash site than a person wandering around in a jungle. But he can't do that, he has to move, get away from it, as far and fast as possible. Because he is sure, the first persons to arrive on site will not be friendly. Not to mention that his kidnappers are already on the crash site and he is in no shape to fight them. No matter what condition they might be in. His best chance is to get away, get to safe ground, and wait for Danny to find him.

It never even occurs to the Lieutenant Commander that he is already in the early stages of shock, that he's not thinking clearly. He never even checks if any of the other occupants of the crashed aircraft are still alive. His severe head injury prevents all rational thought and so he gives in to the primal instinct to take flight. He goes into the jungle in the hope to escape his kidnappers. He doesn't know that there's no danger coming from them anymore, since he is the sole survivor of the crash. The only danger for him now is running into the jungle; away from his rescuers.

Thanks again for reading

**_Sneak Peek into the next installment_**

**Chapter 6 - On Site**

Steve feels like he has been running through the dense jungle for hours now. Well, what he is doing will hardly qualify as running; it is more like stumbling and desperately trying to stay on his feet. A task he's not always successful at. He loses count on how many times he goes down in the last thirty minutes. It gets harder and harder to get back up again with each time he falls to his knees.


	6. Chapter 6 On Site

**_So let's have some action for the team. And for all of you who voiced their concern that the plot is forgotten and all the kidnappers are dead, no need to worry guys. Just because the people on the chopper are dead, does not mean that the group who is after Steve is finished. Have some faith. As I said, Steve is just not taking the easy road; it's always a bit bumpier for him. No straight line from A to B for our SEAL. LOL _**

**_Just relax and enjoy the ride. Hope you do._**

**_I try to answer every review, if I forget someone, I'm sorry about that; it's not my intention to ignore anyone. I appreciate every single review._**

**Chapter 6 – On Site**

Steve feels like he has been running through the dense jungle for hours now. Well, what he is doing will hardly qualify as running; it is more like stumbling and desperately trying to stay on his feet. A task he's not always successful at. He loses count on how many times he goes down in the last thirty minutes. It gets harder and harder to get back up again with each time he falls to his knees. But he won't quit, he has to keep going. His hip sends daggers of pain down his leg and across his abdomen with every movement. He has no idea how the pain in his right ankle comes about or when he tripped and might have twisted it. All he knows is that the pain that is shooting up his leg gets worse with every step. He knows that if he keeps going for much longer, he will suffer a stress fracture somewhere in his foot, ankle, or lower leg. But that can't be avoided, so he keeps going.

Suddenly, he trips over a root and falls to the ground; instinctively trying to soften the fall by extending his arms. A muffled cry can be heard when his left arm is buried under his body and his full weight lands on his forearm. But the pain hitting his arm is nothing compared to the pain that his tumbling down the small hill causes in his side. It feels like his ribs are on fire and poking like hot sticks into his lungs.

He lies at the bottom of the incline, panting and barely be able to breathe. _Just close your eyes for one minute, just one minute of rest and then go again, _his exhausted mind is screaming at him. Finally he gives in to it and closes his eyes.

When he wakes up again an hour later, he's shivering. His face is flushed and hot to the touch but he is so damn cold and that has nothing to do with the light drizzle that started a while ago. Somewhere in his mind, he is aware of that he's running a fever, but it's just a fleeting moment of lucidity. He can't remember clearly why he is in the jungle or what he is running from. He remembers being in a crash. He looks down at his clothes, he's wearing his fatigues.

_Why is he in military clothes? Oh right, he was on a mission and their chopper went down._ His thoughts are just a jumbled mess. He knows he has to get away from the enemy. _He's behind enemy lines, or isn't he?_ He isn't sure of anything anymore; he only knows that he has to find Danny. He can't trust his mind anymore, it's now clear to him; there's only one way out of this mess. Only one way to save himself. He has to find Danny. Danno will know what to do.

His way back to his feet is slow and painful but at last he is standing and stumbling on in the search for Danny; not aware that every step takes him further away from his friend and safety.

H50 – H50 – H50

The search party is already assembled when the group of Five-0 and Navy arrive at the Forest-Station that is used as a base for the rescue mission. It is about a mile from the crash site, there's no way to land a helicopter any closer to the site. The dense jungle will only allow for a rescue by foot.

The Navy has put together an experienced medical team and some men as protection for the medics. They are prepared for any eventuality, at least they think so. What they don't put into consideration is that the one man that survived the crash is not waiting patiently to be rescued.

When the team of medics, Five-0, and Navy arrive at the crash site they are shocked at what they find. Suddenly in front of them is part of a helicopter. It's hard to tell that it even is an aircraft. It is mangled and the metal twisted in ways none of them have ever seen before. All the windows are blown to pieces; they can see that all kind of plants and even small trees are inside the cockpit. They also see the pilot, no way to tell if he was killed on impact or not. His body is equally mangled and one short look tells anyone that he is beyond help.

About fifty yards of the jungle in front of them look like a mini tornado went through it. All kind of debris is spread around.

"Oh my God, how can anyone survive something like this," Kono is asking what everyone is thinking.

They make their way carefully through the jungle, always on the lookout for possible survivors who might not be friendly. The jungle is eerily quiet; it's almost like the sounds of nature have been turned off. They come to an almost completely destroyed piece of the chopper that is most likely the back part of the once big helicopter. But one look clearly shows that there is no one inside. So they quickly go to the largest part of the downed aircraft in the hope of finding Steve. But all they find are six dead military clad bodies. They all died either on impact or were killed in flight by the missile. Only an autopsy will tell for sure.

"Steve is not here," Danny is looking around the crash site in the hope of seeing his friend.

"Sir, if your friend was in that chopper, there is no way that he walked away from it. He would have died just like the others. So he probably was not on it."

"No, he was on it. I'm telling you he's here somewhere. Let's take a closer look and let's look around, maybe he was thrown clear," Danny knows that he's grasping at straws, but he needs to find his friend, he knows that Steve's counting on him.

First, they phone in that they found the crash site, that they didn't find any survivors, and that one person is not accounted for. They inform the Admiral that this is no longer a rescue mission but a search and recovery mission.

By hearing that, Danny almost loses it, "Commander McGarrett is NOT dead! This is not a recovery mission! Don't you dare give up on him! We will find him, alive!"

The Ensign, who phoned the news in, takes a step back at his outburst, "I'm sorry Detective, I didn't mean to give up on the Commander, and we never give up on one of our men. I only informed them of the situation, they need to know that they won't be dealing with half a dozen critically injured people but the recovery of dead bodies. That's all; we will concentrate all our efforts now on finding the Commander. That is the search-part, I never meant that he was dead."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." Danny knows when he's out of line and he shouldn't have snapped like that at the Ensign, who is only doing his job. And he's sure that he is almost as determined to find Steve as he is.

They are at the destroyed back part of the helicopter again. One out of the group of men who is there for their protection takes the lead. Before any of them can say anything, he is inside the chopper and looking around.

"Someone was sitting in this seat," they hear him calling.

Danny and Chin followed Lieutenant Kenshaw into the chopper.

"How do you know," Danny can only see mangled metal and a destroyed former helicopter.

"You just need to know what to look for Detective. Someone was sitting in this seat. A tall guy."

"How do you know that?"

"See the bloody handprint on the floor, well actually the ceiling? He hung in his seat, used his arm to brace himself against the fall, not very successfully I might add. He crashed down here, not too forcefully, then he lay there, probably to catch his breath and take stock of his injuries. He stumbled and fell out of the chopper, he crawled a few feet before he made it back onto his feet."

While listening to the Lieutenant with rapt attention, they follow him out, a few feet away from the wreck. A bit further away he stops again. "He fell to his knees and vomited," he shows them the imprints and the small puddle of whatever Steve had last eaten.

"He got back up and went that way," Lieutenant Kenshaw indicates a very dense part of the jungle.

"Why the hell didn't he just wait here, I mean all the other guys are dead. He is highly trained that would mean he knows to stay at the crash site. Right," Kono is looking around at the others for answers.

One of the medics speaks up, "I'm pretty sure he is seriously hurt. That crash was no picnic. He probably has a serious head injury and he might be in shock. He's not thinking clearly. All this here indicates that he is in serious trouble. We need to find him, and fast."

"We have about two more hours of daylight. We need to move fast. If we can't find him before dark and he needs to spend a night in the open his chances of survival are slim to none," Lieutenant Kenshaw is giving orders to two medics to come with him and the Five-0 team. The rest are supposed to get back to base.

"Wouldn't it be better to take every available man with us, why are you sending them back?"

"Detective, we don't have a lot of daylight left and we're not equipped for a search through the jungle. We're not going to risk any more lives, they will get back to base. We will go looking for the Commander as long as possible, but we will not running through the jungle in the dark. We will organize a search party for the morning. Now let's get moving."

Danny's not satisfied with that answer but for now there is nothing he could do. But he knows that he will not stop looking for Steve just because it gets dark.

**_Thank you so much for reading._**

**_Sneak Peek into the next installment:_**

**Chapter 7 – Lost and Found**

Steve is in deep trouble. He realizes that he's totally lost; he has no idea where he is or where he is going. He doesn't know that he has been walking in a circle for the last hour and that he is very close to the incline he tumbled down a while ago.

_Stupid SOB why did you leave the crash site_, he is asking himself. He has no good answer for that. It is slowly getting dark, he's soaking wet, cold, sick, and in pain.


	7. Chapter 7 Lost and Found

**_Thank you again so much for your reviews, alerts and all the pm's. Since I'm having so much fun and you seem to enjoy the story, I'll post a little faster than planned. Hope you will enjoy it._**

**Chapter 7 – Lost and Found**

Lieutenant Catherine Rollins is sitting in an uncomfortable chair, with a cold cup of coffee in her hands. She isn't really seeing anything. She can't concentrate on anything and she has no clue why she is so out of it. Never in her life has she felt this way, she knows that she is acting highly unprofessional, but she just doesn't know how to change that.

"Lieutenant are you all right? How you're holding up," Admiral Davies sits down next to her and speaks in his calm, deep voice.

"Sir I'm sorry, I. . ."

"It's always the hardest when we are waiting for word on our loved ones. Don't worry it's okay," The Admiral smiles at her, he long ago figured out what is "wrong" with his Lieutenant, even if she obviously has no clue.

"Steve and I, we. . .I think I love him," she blurts out.

Catherine looks at her CO with such wonder in her eyes that he would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious, "Well Catherine I know that you do. Let's hope that you can tell him that shortly."

"No, he. . .he doesn't. . . I. . .," Catherine hates that she is reduced to a stuttering fifteen year old girl.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Catherine. You'll see everything will work out in the end."

Admiral Davies smiles warmly at her. He knows that this woman is good for the Lieutenant Commander and that Steve cares deeply for her. He is hoping with all his heart that she gets the chance to tell McGarrett her feelings.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve is in deep trouble. He realizes that he's totally lost; he has no idea where he is or where he is going. He doesn't know that he has been walking in a circle for the last hour and that he is very close to the incline he tumbled down a while ago.

_Stupid SOB why did you leave the crash site_, he is asking himself. He has no good answer for that. It is slowly getting dark, he's soaking wet, cold, sick, and in pain.

_Well at least I won't die of thirst with all the rain,_ he tries to see the positive side of the drizzle that is still coming down steadily. He only has to lay his head back and he can drink as much as he likes. He would drink more, but he feels really sick to his stomach. Every time his treacherous body forces him to his knees to throw up, his side explodes with pain from the dry heaves, since every morsel of food is long gone. It seems like an endless cycle to him. Drink some water, get nauseous, throw up, and try to breathe through the pain and dizziness, and get to your feet again. He knows that he is in danger of dying out in the jungle; it was made pretty clear to him when he relieved himself a short while ago. That was a pretty painful event and if he saw it right, a bloody one. He must have bruised his kidneys during the crash. He just hopes that the pain in his back won't get much worse and that he didn't seriously hurt his kidneys, if so he will be in major trouble. He was on dialysis once after a parachute accident, an experience that he doesn't want to repeat. That was no fun. He knows that he was prone to kidney complications because of that prior injury, but in the last six years he had no problems whatsoever. _Well seems like your streak of luck just ended_.

Or not. In front of him are some overhanging branches, forming some kind of roof. Underneath, it is pretty dry. It's almost like a little cave, just not out of solid rocks, but of leaves and branches. Just what he needs. He gets under it and tries to get as far away from the rain as possible. He sits down against the "wall", lays his head back and is out like a light.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Detectives! We need to head back to base, there is almost no light anymore, and it's getting too dangerous," Lieutenant Kenshaw is trying to get the Five-0's to stop and listen to him.

"Forget it Lieutenant, we're not leaving Steve out here and heading back to base. We're going to keep looking," Danny doesn't even stop walking purposely through the dense jungle.

"Now you listen to me Danny, this is dangerous terrain; we don't have enough light to keep looking. We will be of no help to the Commander if we get hurt ourselves. We head back to base and start our search again with the first light. Detective, this is of no use," The Lieutenant almost pleads with the stubborn Detective. For half an hour now, he has been trying to get him to stop and head back.

"I can't leave him out here. Please, I promised Catherine to bring him back. We can't head back without him. He's counting on us to find him."

"I know Danny, but he wouldn't want us to put ourselves in danger just to find him. To go back is the right thing to do. You know that."

"Yeah I know. But at least let's not follow our steps back, let's cover some more ground on our way to base," Danny knows that the suggestion is more for his conscience than for practical reasons. It is very unlikely to find their missing friend on their way back.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve wakes up to some kind of noise he can't identify. Maybe it is just in his head, he can't be sure. It feels like it was just a minute ago that he sat down to rest for a while out of the rain. The rain stopped half an hour ago. Now it's almost dark and quiet.

For the first time since his ordeal started, he thinks that he will die in the jungle. He lies on the ground, shivering and groaning. He's not able to separate the various sources of pain, from his head to his foot; it is just one big white hot mass of pain. Never in his life has he felt as miserable as he does right now. He was shot, stabbed, almost blown to pieces, drowned and beaten before, but none of that hurt like this.

For the first time in his life, he can't go on anymore. Any other man would've given up hours ago, but not him. It was drilled into him; if you get beaten down you get back up again. And he did, for hours he got up again. After every fall, after every new pain, he made his way back to his two feet and went on. But not this time. He just can't go on anymore.

His whole body hurts, his head is fuzzy, and he can't think anymore, he's so cold. But the worst is that he feels so alone. He just doesn't believe that he can make it back home. He realizes that his decision to leave the crash site will probably cost him his life.

He feels how the last of his energy is slowly seeping out of him; how his tiredness has reached a level that he can't fight any longer. He closes his eyes, only to open them with a start again. Catherine and Danny are shouting his name. Shouting for him not to give up. He is looking around, but the only thing that he sees is the undisturbed jungle. The same jungle he's lost in.

His eyes close on their own account. _I'm sorry_ is his last conscious thought before he slips into oblivion.

H50 – H50 – H50

The impromptu search party decides to go a little bit south first and then to head back. To the left of them the ground slopes down some. Lieutenant Kenshaw is still looking intensely for any kind of traces of Steve. Anything he left for them to see. Danny only sees green everywhere; well with the diminishing light it is actually gray. He is just imagining what kind of animals are watching _him_ at that moment when he hears Kenshaw call out, "Look at this!"

"At what, what do you mean," Danny doesn't see anything and he's cursing himself for being so blind about the signs of nature.

"Look at all the plants, they are all flat on the ground, and they were flattened by a person rolling down that hill."

They are all shining their flashlights to the ground where the Lieutenant indicates. Now even Danny can see it.

"Let's go down there," Danny is the first to carefully make his way down, closely followed by Chin and Kono.

Kenshaw is looking around at the bottom of the incline, "He was laying here for a while, but he made it back to his feet."

"Well that's obvious since he is not here. Can you see where he went," Danny's getting impatient.

"He is not walking straight, but he went in that direction."

Steve left a clear trail in the soaked ground, easy to follow and shortly after they see what most of them didn't expect to see that night: under a roof of some branches lay Steve McGarrett. Huddled on his side either asleep, unconscious or dead.

_**Thank you for reading!**_

_**Poor Steve! That was an exhausting trip through the jungle, don't you think? Well I think Steve needs a little rest now, well at least as much rest as he can get. We're talking Steve here. ;-)**_

_**I hope you will enjoy the future chapters.**_

_**Here is a little Peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 8 – Touch and Go**

It disturbs the three Five-0's greatly that their leader is so utterly still. Steve is never still. He is always full of energy, always bouncing around, even when sitting down he is kind of moving. Always on the move. Danny often wonders how he is able to be absolutely still if needed while doing SEAL things. Well, probably mind over matter. He looks down at his friend in the hopes of seeing just a tiny little bit of movement. But there is none. Steve is dead to the world. Danny prays that he won't make that a reality.


	8. Chapter 8 Touch and Go

**_Thank you again for all the reviews, alerts and the private messages. I really am overwhelmed. Thank you._**

**_I hope you will enjoy the chapter, but I have to warn you, no Steve in it, well at least not an awake one. Told you he needs to rest a little. :)_**

**Chapter 8 – Touch and Go**

Danny only sees his friend on the ground, completely still and oblivious to the activity around him. As soon as they find him, the medics take over. They roll him on his back, check his vitals, put an IV in his arm. All the while, Steve doesn't even twitch or show any reaction at all. He doesn't even react to any pain stimuli; he is completely out of it.

"His temp is 104, which is dangerously high, we need to get that down. There is at least one broken rib and probably a broken ankle. Since he's not reacting to pain stimuli, I can't say for sure what else, but he was in a plane crash so there might be internal injuries. I can't feel any bleeding in his abdomen, feels alright, but there still could be bleeding. His head injury is worrisome and that he is so deeply unconscious is not encouraging. I'm sorry it doesn't look good, he needs to get to a hospital as soon as possible. He does not have a lot of time left."

"Okay, let's put him on the stretcher, not much we can do about his wet clothes right now."

Steve is carefully transferred into the special stretcher used by the military for just such rescue missions. The metal construction looks like a long basket and is easy to carry; the person lying in it is in no danger of falling out even if you have to run with it or walk in such terrain as a jungle.

After securing Steve, the two medics, Chin and Danny grab the stretcher and lift it. Lieutenant Kenshaw is in the lead while Kono holds the bag for Steve's IV.

It disturbs the three Five-0's greatly that their leader is so utterly still. Steve is never still. He is always full of energy, always bouncing around, even when sitting down he is kind of moving. Always on the move. Danny often wonders how he is able to be absolutely still if needed while doing SEAL things. Well, probably mind over matter. He looks down at his friend in the hopes of seeing just a tiny little bit of movement. But there is none. Steve is dead to the world. Danny prays that he won't make that a reality.

H50 - H50 - H50

Admiral Davies is pacing. Ever since they heard from Lieutenant Kenshaw that they found Commander McGarrett, he paces the small room of the Forest Station.

"Admiral, the Medivac is ready to take off as soon as they arrive. A second Helicopter will take you and your party back to Hickam."

"Thank you Ensign."

Admiral Davies and Lieutenant Rollins are waiting impatiently for the return of the search party. They are informed that the Commander is in bad shape and are worried that his time will run out.

H50 - H50 - H50

After what seems like hours they make it out of the jungle and back to the waiting Medivac team. Steve is loaded into the helicopter, Danny and Catherine hop in before anyone can stop them. They will not leave their friends side.

"Danny we'll meet you at the hospital. We'll go with the Admiral."

"Okay Chin see you soon," Danny barely has time to get back into the chopper before the door is closed and they are air born.

When Danny takes his seat, he sees that Catherine is as close to Steve as the medics who are working on him will allow. She's desperate to hold his hand, to feel that he is indeed alive, but she can't get close enough or she will be in the way.

So Danny and Catherine watch helplessly as the medics work on their friend.

"What's our ETA," they hear one of them on their headphones asking the pilot.

"Fifteen minutes."

"Make it faster! He doesn't have fifteen minutes, his BP is dropping, at this rate we're going to lose him!"

"You two come here. Talk to him, reach him. He's not fighting, he gave up. He's not going to make it, he needs to fight."

The medic's desperate to save his patient, but there's only so much he can do on the medical side for him.

Danny and Catherine don't need to be told twice, they are at Steve's side in an instant. She takes his right hand and is whispering in his ear. Danny can't hear what she's saying with all the noise from the helicopter, but he's hoping that his friend will somehow register that they are with him. He lays his hand on Steve's shoulder when she stops talking to him. He's not so subtle with his talking, more like screaming at him, "Come on babe, don't check out now, don't you dare give up! I'm not going to your funeral, you hear that! Fight this, you can do it! Come on SuperSeal, you will beat this!"

They are all hoping that Steve will show a sign of waking up but he's stubbornly still. He doesn't move, make any sounds.

"His BP is still dropping, his heartbeat is irregular, and he's not getting enough oxygen. He has trouble breathing, we need to intubate."

The medics are all over Steve again, his head is bent back and the tube is inserted. One of the medics takes the Ambu bag and starts to squeeze it to help Steve get more oxygen.

"ETA?"

"One minute. The ER is informed and waiting for him."

"Good good. Come on Commander just a few more minutes."

Steve is totally unimpressed by all the attention he was getting, his body no longer willing to keep up any of its vital functions. When they touch down on the helipad at Queens Medical Center, his heart stops.

H50 - H50 - H50

Kono and Chin are taken to the hospital by the Admiral's driver. The flight back to Hickam and the short drive to the hospital is very quiet. They are all in spirit with their friend, hoping that they will hear some good news when they arrive at the ER. They don't expect to see what they find when they finally get there.

A distraught Danny who is sitting with his head in his hands and a silently crying Catherine is next to him.

"Danny what happened, how is Steve," Kono is the first to ask.

Danny looks up at his colleagues, what they see in his eyes shocks them. Danny doesn't just look worried; he looks scared, "He got worse on the flight. . .his BP dropped and he had trouble breathing. . .when we landed. . .his heart stopped. They're in there for thirty minutes now and we haven't heard anything, we just. . ."

"He'll make it. Danny, he's going to make it. I know it," everyone looks at Catherine, who is suddenly speaking with such conviction, that they are amazed, "He's not a quitter, I don't know what happened in the helicopter but he will not give up, he will be all right." A very quiet, "He has to be" can be heard, like it is an afterthought.

Before they can say anything, the door to the ER opens and a tired looking middle aged doctor comes out, "Family of Steve McGarrett?"

"Yes, we are. I'm Detective Danny Williams, his partner and next of kin," Danny looks into the surprised faces of his team mates and tells them with one look that he will tell them later, "How is he?"

"I'm Doctor Hope. Well Detective, it was tough but we got him back. His vitals stabilized and we extubated him, he's breathing on his own, but is still critical. He is stable enough so that we can do some tests. We're going to do an MRI and some X-Rays. His head injury worries me, still deeply unconscious and not reacting to pain stimuli. I have to be honest with you: that is not a good sign. Even when unconscious, your body normally reacts to pain stimuli, but he isn't, so I fear that we're dealing with serious head trauma. That is why we're doing a MRI right now, to see what we're dealing with. What I can tell you right now is that he does have a broken rib and some bruised ones. He is still running a fever of 103, but we're pretty sure that is from a common cold and not from some nasty infection. We're giving him some strong antibiotics anyway. He has some serious bruising on his right hip and lower abdomen; his right ankle might be fractured. How he was able to walk on that, I have no idea. It looks like his left arm is broken, we're not sure yet, the x-ray will show that. There is blood in his urine, so we think that he bruised his kidneys, but they are still working and the ultrasound shows no internal bleeding. We will also check his kidneys with the MRI, we'll know more after that."

The doctor looked in shocked faces after hearing the injuries Steve suffered.

"Listen, I know this is kind of overwhelming right know. But considering that he was in a helicopter that was downed by a missile, he got away really lucky. The impact of such a crash on the human body is enormous, so that he walked away from it is a miracle in itself. The only injury that is really to worry about is his head injury and as far as I know he did receive the hit to the back of the head prior to the crash. During the crash he suffered a mild hit to the forehead which aggravated his already injured brain and resulted in a cut over his right eye. We have to monitor his kidneys; there could be trouble, with the serious injury he suffered a few years back. We have his complete medical file in our database so we will take care of that. I'm going to come see you again as soon as I know something more, okay?"

"Thank you doctor for being honest with us. Please tell us how his prognosis is."

"Well that is hard to tell at this time. If it weren't for the head injury I would say he will make a full recovery pretty quick actually, since he is in excellent shape. BUT I don't know the extent of the head trauma yet, so I really can't say. We just have to wait."

H50 - H50 - H50

_**Thanks for reading, drop me a line if you like, but it's also OK just to read.**_

_**Don't you worry they don't have to wait too long.**_

_**And as always a little peek into the next chapter.**_

**Chapter 9 – Test of patience**

After all testing is done and his injuries are treated accordingly, he is settled in the ICU and Dr. Hope goes to see his friends again. They are now sitting in the ICU waiting area, waiting for word from the doctor. When he finally arrives, after more than three hours after they last spoke to him, Danny is ready to jump him, "What took you so long, is he all right?"


	9. Chapter 9 Test of Patience

**_Thank you again for all the reviews and great pm's. Hope you will stick around for further chapters. _**

**_A special thanks to AZGirl, great suggestion, before that I only mentioned it in passing, so that scene is for you._**

**Chapter 9 – Test of patience**

Steve is subjected to all kind of tests. They send him through the new MRI which they got just a short while ago. The one where the whole scan just takes a few minutes instead of more than an hour. Since he sustained his various injuries in a plane crash, one of the most violent traumas a human body can experience, they make a full body scan. He is also x-rayed and a full blood work was done. All the while, he is completely oblivious to all of it.

After all testing is done and his injuries are treated accordingly, he is settled in the ICU and Dr. Hope goes to see his friends again.

They spent the time waiting for Dr. Hope to come back to them with news on Steve with filling out forms. Danny never knew that the hospital needs so many forms filled out for just one patient. He is sharing the load with Catherine who is also Steve's next of kin. He smiles when he thinks about how he became the next of kin of SuperSEAL McGarrett.

_Steve is standing in front of Danny's apartment with a six-pack of beer in hand and getting slowly soaked while waiting for Danny to open the door. _

"_What took you so long?"_

"_Well excuse me for taking 20 seconds to let you in. You wanna come in or what," Danny looks at him rather suspicious, since it is normally Danny who ends up at Steve's doorstep. So something is definitely up with his friend._

"_Yeah thanks," Steve is standing in the apartment and is not sure what to do, seems like he is waiting for something._

"_You just gonna stand there and make a puddle or do you like to get a towel and maybe even sit down?" He exchanges the beer in Steve's hand with a towel and plops down on his couch._

"_Oh right, sorry 'bout that."_

_Danny just shakes his head and watches Steve how he slowly dries himself off, it's like he is taking extra-long, needing the time to come up with what to say. Danny waits him out._

"_You know I talked to Cath this morning."_

"_Yeah?"_

_Steve is now sitting on the couch holding his beer in his hands but not looking at him and Danny is getting worried that something is seriously wrong._

"_Steve is everything OK?"_

"_What? Yeah, yeah everything is fine. I was just thinking."_

"_Thinking's good. What were you thinking about?"_

_Danny knows that Steve is not a man of many words, well not often anyway, but this is getting ridiculous._

"_Well I was wondering."_

"_First thinking and now wondering, could you be a little more specific?"_

_Steve is looking so lost, that Danny is almost laughing, but instead he gets serious, "Steve whatever it is, you know that you can tell me. Right?"_

"_Yeah I know. Well you know that Cath is often half a world away and Mary is not here and you are the closest thing that I have to a family. To a brother actually and well I was wondering, I mean since you're already my emergency contact and I thought maybe it would be ok for you."_

_Danny is for a second debating if this could be considered 'babbling of a SEAL', when Steve starts again._

"_Would you please be my next of kin? My power of attorney if anything would happen to me."_

"_So basically you want me to be the one that pulls the plug," Danny is now smiling at him._

"_Well I hope it doesn't come to THAT, but yeah that's what I wanted to ask you."_

"_Under one condition."_

"_What's that?"_

"_Don't ever bring me in a situation where I have to make that decision," Danny is using his most serious tone._

"_Deal. Thank you Danno."_

They are now sitting in the ICU waiting area, waiting for word from the doctor. When he finally arrives, after more than three hours after they last spoke to him, Danny is ready to jump him, "What took you so long, is he all right?"

"Detective please, we had to address his various injuries, there was quite a bit to do. Now let me tell you how he is. He did indeed break his left arm, but it's just a partial break. That means that the bone is not completely broken through, which is good, we didn't need to set the bone. But he is back in a cast for at least 4 weeks, maybe longer since this break happened so shortly after the first one. We need to wait and see. He also suffered a broken leg, his tibia is broken."

"Wait you said he might have broken his ankle, now his leg is broken? He could not have walked with a broken leg."

"Danny, may I call you Danny?"

"Please."

"Let me explain. Six years ago, he suffered a severe injury of his leg and ankle. His ankle was shattered in pieces, some bones in his foot were broken and his tibia was fractured. It took a while for him to get back on his feet. But his ankle and leg will always be in danger of a stress fracture. And that is what happened here. He broke his ankle, so that he couldn't walk as he normally would, that resulted in the stress fracture of his tibia. Do you know what a stress fracture is?"

All of them were shaking their heads, they may have heard about it, but were not clear on what that entitled.

"Okay, a stress fracture is an incomplete fracture of a bone. It is caused by unusual or repeated stress and also heavy continuous weight on the ankle or leg. The Commander knows that he is prone to such injuries; that is why he is almost always wearing boots and is following a rigorous muscle training." He paused to see if everyone was now aware of what he was talking about.

"We will put his leg in a cast from just below the knee. It can take up to eight weeks to heal, it all depends but as I know the Commander he will do it in four and get rid of both his casts at the same time."

For the first time since they got to the hospital they allowed themselves to smile a bit.

"It will take some time, but those injuries should heal completely. As should his broken rib. We are not worried about that one, it didn't shift and stayed in place, did not puncture his lung. He's got four severely bruised ribs but only one is broken, so he was lucky. He will be in pain for a while, but since he can't run around with his leg that much for a few days, he will be resting anyway. So they will heal on their own. His hip is also badly bruised as is his lower abdomen. But none of those injuries are to worry about, they are very painful but not that serious. But we are worried about his kidneys. They are still functioning but they are not producing as much urine as I like them to. So we have to closely watch that. I hope we can prevent a shutdown of his kidneys. But it might happen, we have to wait. Good news is there is no internal bleeding."

"You said something about a previous injury, was that related to the broken leg," Danny has no idea what injuries his friend sustained during his military service.

"Yes it was."

"Dr. Hope you are avoiding one topic. You're telling us all about his injuries in length, but what about his head? All you're saying is that he was lucky and his injuries are not serious, but we saw him _die_ in that helicopter, his heart stopped. Please tell us the bad news."

"Well Lieutenant there are no real bad news. The Commander is stable now. He suffered a very severe concussing _but_ there is no bleeding and very little swelling of the brain. He does have a hairline fracture at the back of his skull, but that is nothing much to worry about, that will heal on itself. We are worried that he is still deeply unconscious. But that is not totally uncommon. We just need to give him time. The episode on the flight in, well his body suffered some enormous trauma and he slipped into shock. It's a wonder that he didn't arrest while still in the jungle. I know that you all think that he is some kind of SuperSEAL, but he is just human and has his limits. And today he reached that limit, and then some."

"When will he wake up and can we see him?"

"I don't know when he will be waking up. He's not showing any signs of waking up any time soon, but we will monitor that closely. Yes, you can see him. You may all go together now, but only for a few minutes. After that two of you can stay with him at all times. I hold the opinion that keeping injured people company is more helpful than not. So you can stay with him, but stay out of the way if the nurses or doctors need access to him. Is that understood?"

"Thank you Doctor."

They are shown into the ICU and follow Dr. Hope to Steve's room.

What they see is kind of disturbing. Steve lies in an ICU bed, hooked up to at least a dozen monitors and tubes. He has three bags on his IV pole and one tube sneaks out from under his blanket. The liquid in the attached bag is slightly pink. His right leg is elevated in a holding-contraption. His left arm lay bent against his side and is in a blue cast. _Well no advertising on that one this time._ He is only covered with a light blanket up to his waist so they could see some spectacular bruises on his right side. A slight sheen of sweat covered his face and the cut above his eye is glued shut and the bruise on one side of his forehead already changing color. But what really amazed them is that he looks completely peaceful.

Danny swears that Steve has a smile on his lips. It stands in such contrast to the visible injuries he sustained that Danny doesn't know what to think.

"Hey Sailor," Catherine goes to Steve, bends down to his level and after whispering to him, softly kisses his lips. Careful of his IV's, she takes his hand in hers and caresses his forehead and hair with her free hand.

Danny brings her a chair and she sits down with a grateful smile.

Kono goes to his other side and gives him a light kiss on the forehead, "Get better soon Boss, will ya!"

After that it is Chin's turn, "Hey brah, you scared us. Don't do that again. I expect to see you awake tomorrow. You hear?"

Kono and Chin step back to let the Admiral say a few words to Steve, "Hey Commander, this is not how it should be. Steve, you have us worried, get better soon." He places his hand on Steve's forehead, closes his eyes and whispers something. They can't say if it was a prayer or not.

"I'm coming by tomorrow," with that, he is gone.

"Guess not a man of many words. Chin, Kono, I'm going to stay, see you tomorrow?"

"Danny you should head home and at least change. Look at you, or us for that matter."

For the first time since they left the jungle in the medivac, he realizes that he is still wearing his wet clothes in which he went traipsing through the jungle. Well they're almost dry now, but damp and dirty. "Maybe I can get some scrubs and. . ."

"Hey brah, get a shower get something to eat get changed, get some sleep. Then get back here and relieve Catherine."

"Danny, Chin is right, I'm not leaving him, but you need to change. Or you'll get sick and we can't have that. Now go and come back in the morning."

"OK, I'll be back at seven with breakfast and coffee. You'll watch our boy?"

"Yeah I will, I call you as soon as something is gonna change."

Danny reluctantly agrees to go home to change and sleep. But not before he steps up to Steve, lays his hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezes it. He doesn't say a word, doesn't have to. They can all see how deeply affected he is by the state his friend is in. But at last, he bends down and whispers something in Steve's ear. They can't hear what it is and Danny doesn't say; he just smiles at them.

After the three leave, Catherine is alone with Steve and really looks at him for the first time since they got to the hospital. He does look like he is completely relaxed and just asleep. He doesn't look like someone who almost died just a few hours ago and is deeply unconscious.

"Steve? Please wake up, don't leave us."

Catherine is still holding his hand when the nurse came to check his vitals.

"Am I in the way?"

"No it's fine. I'm just checking him over. His fever is down a bit, just 102 now. That's good. BP looks good and oxygen saturation is 98, really good."

"Is he on any pain meds?

"No not at the moment, he will get that when he comes around. Of course, with his head injury, we can't sedate him, and besides we want him to wake up not put him deeper under than he already is."

The nurse smiles at Catherine and leaves after she checks all input lines and the output produced by Steve. She is left alone with all her thoughts about Steve and the noise of his various monitors. Her thoughts go back to another time and place.

H50 - H50 - H50

**_Thanks for still sticking around. Love to hear from you._**

**_Any guesses what time and place Catherine is going to visit?_**

**_I hope you will continue to enjoy this story. There is quite a bit to come, I mean we still need to catch some bad guys, don't we? And for that we need our SEAL around so my guess is that his rest won't be that much longer. But we'll see._**

**Chapter 10 - Back in time**

Catherine wakes up with a start. She looks around slightly disoriented. One look out the window shows her that it is now dawn; the sun will be up in just a few minutes. She must have fallen asleep. She looks at Steve, who is now lying on his back again. She slept right through at least one turning. She can't remember sitting down in the chair near the wall, away from his bed, so she goes over to give him a good morning kiss. She almost jumps out of her skin when she takes his hand and he turns his head to the side and makes a low noise.


	10. Chapter 10 Back in Time

_**You guys are really the best! Thank you so much for all your reviews, alerts and all the private messages. I know I'm repeating myself, but really, you make my day, every day!**_

_**So now on with the story.**_

**Chapter 10 - Back in time**

_Coronado, California 2005_

"_Steve? Promise me something?"_

"_What?"_

"_When you get back we will have Dinner."_

_Steve laughed out loud at that. _"_Hey you don't think this is dinner," he was indicating the half eaten sandwich he was holding in his hand while trying to salvage as much of the salad as he could._

"_No not really, when you said we would have a romantic dinner, somehow that didn't involve a sandwich with a lot of actual sand in the wich."_

"_It's not my fault that the restaurant was closed because of a fire last night. What about 'it's the thought that counts'?"_

"_Well couldn't you think of another restaurant where we could eat in peace?. . .Hey what's wrong, Steve you okay? Come on I'm just kidding, you know I don't care where we're together. Steve?"_

_Steve was suddenly dead serious; all playfulness had left his eyes, _"_Cath I'm scared."_

"_You're scared to ship out tomorrow?"_

"_Yeah. I don't know where we're going, they didn't tell us anything. And. . .I just know that something is going to happen."_

"_What do you mean? Something gonna happen to you?"_

"_I've never had this feeling before. It scares me and I don't know how to handle it. I can't explain it Cath, I don't know, I. . .I don't know."_

_Steve looked down at the sand, ashamed. He felt no shame in being scared, there is no shame in that, he felt so inadequate because he couldn't explain his feelings to Catherine._

"_Hey Sailor, look at me. I'm scared too; every time you leave I'm worried that I might not see you again. But I know that you will be careful and that you will come back. I have faith in you."_

_Catherine hugged him close and tried to give him all her strength; she knew that he would be deployed on a dangerous mission in the morning and she hoped with all her heart that he was wrong. That he would come back in one piece._

_Unfortunately Steve was rarely wrong and this time was no exception._

A loud alarm tone brings Catherine back into the hospital room of the here and now of 2011. A nurse comes running into the room, followed by Dr. Hope.

"What's happening?"

Catherine looks at the Doctor, hoping to get an answer since she can't see which of the monitors is responsible for the alarm. Steve's bed is lowered from the half elevated position to flat on his back; some meds are inserted into his IV and a short while later the alarm stops.

"What happened?"

"His BP was rising to a dangerous level and his heartbeat got a bit too fast. It's okay now. Did you raise his bed?"

"No! He was like this when we got in here. Why?"

"He cannot be that highly elevated, that will cause a rise in his blood pressure again. But to lie flat on his back is not good for his breathing so we need to find a position that is okay with his BP and his breathing. The one he was in was too high. So we raised him just a little and he should be fine."

"He's okay now?"

"Everything looks good, don't worry, he is holding his own."

Dr. Hope checks his patient again and after he's satisfied leaves Catherine alone again.

Catherine settles back into her chair and takes his hand again, "Don't scare me like that again. Steve you hear me?"

But again, there's no response. During all the activity, he never even moved a muscle, made no noise, no sign of any kind of consciousness. It is almost like he's not in his body.

H50 - H50 - H50

It is in the middle of the night, Cath can't believe how many hours have passed since she woke up to an empty bed. And what all has happened since then. She's still sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chair and is about to nod off when two nurses come into the room.

"I'm sorry but we need to move Commander McGarrett. Maybe you like to wait outside," the male of the two nurses asks while he shuts the blinds of the big glass wall that separates the room from the main area of the ICU.

"Move him? Where are you going to move him?"

"Nowhere, we just need to turn him somewhat, since he's not moving on his own and can't lay in one position for too many hours. So we need to turn him every once in a while. If we don't, his skin could start to break down."

"Oh okay I see. But I like to stay if that is okay with you."

"Fine by me, but he is naked under the blanket, so. . ."

"Nothing I haven't seen before."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

And he is right. Never in her life has Catherine seen bruises like the ones on Steve's hip and lower abdomen. They look incredibly painful, his whole lower body is colored black and purple. The Foley Catheter only adds to her queasiness. In a way, she's glad that he is unconscious, so he doesn't need to endure the humiliating process of being handled by two nurses who are turning him gently on his side. She is thankful for the gentle way they are going about their job. One of them takes his right leg out of the holding mechanism that elevated it up until now. They have brought in two pillows and carefully lower his leg onto them. They also have a very long pillow that they put under his right side, so that he is halfway lying on his left. They rearrange his leg some and untangle his various tubes and electrodes, always mindful not to jostle him or hurt him in the process. After they're done with moving him, they cover him back up and check his vitals. Obviously satisfied with the readings, they leave Catherine alone again.

H50 - H50 - H50

_Honolulu Navy Training Center, Hawaii, 2005_

"_Lieutenant Rollins welcome to Hawaii and congratulations on your promotion to full Lieutenant."_

"_Thank you Sir."_

"_So you will be staying with us for two month before you get your new assignment?"_

"_Yes Sir. I'm happy to be here Sir."_

"_Now Catherine let's finish up with the official business and talk about more pleasant things. How is Steve?"_

"_I don't know Admiral, he was deployed two weeks ago. I haven't heard from him yet. You know how it is."_

"_Yeah. Listen I'm going to visit John tonight, would you like to come I'm sure he would love to have you."_

"_I don't know I've only seen him a couple of times and only when Steve was visiting his father."_

"_Lieutenant, I happen to know that John really likes you. So say yes. I'm going to call him and tell him that you're coming, okay?"_

_Reluctantly she agreed she wasn't so sure that that was a good idea. On the other hand maybe she could smooth thing over with Steve's dad. She knew that Steve respected and loved his dad, but the relationship could use a bit more warmth, maybe she could do something about it. _Don't let Steve hear you girl, he would not be happy. Well what he doesn't know. _She smiled at her thoughts because she knew that Steve had a way of always finding out about everything. _

_The evening with the Admiral and John McGarrett was a pleasant one. It was strange for Catherine to see the Admiral outside of an official capacity. But it was really easy for her to interact with McGarrett Senior, he was a lot like his son, or better Steve was a lot like his dad. She found it most interesting how the two older men interacted with each other, they've known each other for almost forty years. And even if their careers took such different turns, John left the Navy as a Lieutenant and the Admiral, well he is an Admiral, tonight they were just old friends._

"_Well Mr. McGarrett it's late I should leave."_

"_If you call me Mister McGarrett one more time. . .it's John. It should be easy to remember. John!"_

"_Yes SIR," Catherine said with a smile._

_John was just going to say something about the "Sir" when his phone interrupted._

"_Who is calling at almost midnight," he asked no one in particular as he went to answer his phone._

"_McGarrett." _

_He was listening intently to the caller when all color drained from his face. His two guests were looking at him in concern and listened to the one sided conversation._

"_How. . .how badly is he hurt?"_

_Catherine was at his side in an instant. _

"_Thank you for calling me Captain," he put the phone down and closed his eyes for a moment._

"_John, what happened to Steve, where is he? Is he okay?"_

"_That was Captain Myers, Steve's CO. He couldn't tell me where he is, just that they are getting him out of wherever he is at the moment and bringing him here to Hawaii on the next possible flight out."_

"_What happened, how is he, was he shot?"_

"_No! He was not shot. They were still exercising for their mission and made a high altitude jump. His chute didn't open. He used his reserve one but the lines got tangled and the chute didn't work properly. He couldn't control his decent and was spinning out of control. He was way too fast when he crashed into the ocean. He is badly hurt, I don't know, the Captain just said that he is seriously injured, something about his back and kidneys and that his leg is really badly messed up."_

"_Jesus, John I'm so sorry, listen I will make sure that he gets here as soon as possible. I'll make some calls, don't worry we will get him here."_

"_Thank you Jeff."_

"_Anything for your boy, you know I owe him."_

"_Lieutenant take tomorrow off, stay here with John."_

"_Sir, I can't do that."_

"_Yes you can, this is a family emergency, everyone under my command would get the time off they need if at all possible. You're not on duty, you're at the training center. Take a few days off. Get to know each other, Steve will need you both when he is back. And that is an order Lieutenant Rollins."_

"_Yes Sir. Thank you Sir. Please bring him back?"_

"_You have my word."_

H50 - H50 - H50

Catherine wakes up with a start. She looks around slightly disoriented. One look out the window shows her that it is now dawn; the sun will be up in just a few minutes. She must have fallen asleep. She looks at Steve, who is now lying on his back again. She slept right through at least one turning. She can't remember sitting down in the chair near the wall, away from his bed, so she goes over to give him a good morning kiss. She almost jumps out of her skin when she takes his hand and he turns his head to the side and makes a low noise.

She touches his cheek and is speaking to him in a quiet but exited voice, "Steve? Come on wake up, you slept long enough. Come on you can wake up now."

Just then the door opens and Danny comes in as promised with coffee and breakfast. Well if Malasalas count as breakfast.

"Danny, get a doctor, I think Steve is waking up."

Danny doesn't need to be told twice. Just a minute later, he is back with Dr. Hope in tow.

"Don't you ever sleep Doctor," Catherine doesn't expect to see him this morning.

"I'm on twenty-four hour call, so I'm all yours for another twelve hours. You say he is waking up, his vitals don't indicate that."

"He moved his head and said something, well it was not really a word."

"Okay, let me check him over."

Dr. Hope turns Steve's head and uses his flash pen to check Steve's pupils. Then he uses his knuckles and presses on Steve's sternum which evokes an immediate reaction. Steve groans loudly and turns his head away. His first reaction to any pain stimuli in over twelve hours.

"This is very good, he's not waking up yet, but he's not as deeply under as he was for the last several hours. This is a very good sign. I wasn't expecting this so soon. Keep talking to him, he might hear you. But keep your voices low."

"Does he need pain medication now that he is starting to wake up?"

"No not yet, he is still unconscious. If he starts to be in pain we will see that immediately on the monitors. Don't worry we will not let him suffer. But I won't put him under heavy medication before I can't check his brain functions and for that he needs to be awake."

After Dr. Hope left, Danny looks at Catherine, "You look tired, did you sleep some?"

"Just a couple hours, you don't look so rested yourself."

"Yeah well it was a short night. Didn't sleep well. Would you like to go home for a few hours get some proper rest? I'm going to keep Steve company and later Chin and Kono will be here."

"Not yet Danny, later I will. Steve will need some stuff anyway. I don't think he will appreciate lying around buck-naked when he wakes up."

"Oh yeah I can already hear him bitching about being in a hospital, and in the ICU to boot. Already see him trying to escape first chance he gets."

Catherine looks at him with a strange expression on her face, "What makes you say that Danny? Did he sustain any injuries that warranted a hospital stay since you have known him?"

"Ah. . .no. Not really. He broke his arm, got shot and stabbed, but that were only grazes. No nothing too serious. Why?"

"Well I was just wondering what gives you the idea that he would try to flee the hospital? He is actually a model patient; he always followed the doctor's orders completely. Of course I've only seen him in military hospitals, so there was not a lot of choice for him. But he knows his limits perfectly and I assume it won't be much different in this case."

"You mean to tell me that SuperSEAL McGarrett, the barge-in-first-ask-questions-later Rambo, ignore-protocol-when-ever-possible-guy is a good little soldier when sick? I find that hard to believe."

"First of all he is a SAILOR Danny, not a soldier. We're in the Navy, not the Army. Don't you dare smile, don't make fun of that. Danny!"

"You do know I don't mean anything by it, do you?"

"Yeah yeah whatever. You know Danny sometimes you just amuse me and I wonder how you and Steve can go along so well."

"What do you mean you wonder how we can be friends? We are great together."

"Yes you are! It's just that your view of Steve is sometimes so screwed and totally off."

"Hey I resent that, I think I have him completely figured out."

"Yeah you keep telling yourself that," Catherine now has a big smile on her face and Danny isn't sure if she's just messing with him or if there's some truth behind her words.

**_Thank you for reading!_**

**_Sneak Peek into the next installment:_**

**Chapter 11 – The first incident**

Steve feels dizzy and his head hurts. He tries to remember what happened or where he is. _Why is my leg so heavy? Argh, bad idea. Don't move._ Pain is shooting down his abdomen when he lightly moves to get more comfortable. He tries to move his left arm, to touch his arching head, but can't quite make it. His arm feels heavy and detached from the rest of his body. There's a pressure on his right side, every breath hurts and it's getting harder to breathe as he becomes more awake.


	11. Chapter 11 The first incident

_**Again thank you for all the alerts and reviews.**_

**Chapter 11 – The first incident**

The day goes by in a blur. Kono and Chin arrive an hour after Danny and the four of them spend the morning talking only to be interrupted by coffee breaks. Unbelievable but the cafeteria has the best coffee they've had in a long time. So the trips down there to get coffee for all of them are pretty frequent. Around noon, the Admiral shows up for half an hour and leaves with Catherine.

"I'm heading over to Steve's to get changed and get some stuff for him. You guys need anything?"

"No we're good."

"Danny please call me if anything happens."

"Sure I will. Get a couple hours rest Catherine."

"Okay see you soon."

Before she leaves, she goes to Steve, smooths his hair back and gently kisses him good bye.

Kono looks at Danny again; since earlier this morning, she's wondering what's wrong with him, "Danny you OK?"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine."

"Brah what's going on? Kono and I aren't blind, what's gotten into you," Chin demands.

Danny looks at his friends before he gets up and goes over to Steve. Kono and Chin watch as he very uncharacteristically touches their boss and smooths his hair back, just like Catherine did a few minutes ago. He's always wore his emotions on his sleeve, but this open display of affection and love is new even for him.

"I don't know when it happened, but slowly Steve wormed his way into my heart and became my best friend. I never before had a friend like him; I love him like a brother. Maybe even more," he adds softly as an afterthought while thinking of his actual brother Matt who betrayed him in the worst way. He's absolutely sure that Steve will never in his life betray or hurt him on purpose.

"You know Steve feels the same way about you. Danny what is this about?"

"Just something that Catherine said; that my view of Steve is sometimes off and screwed up."

Chin laughs out loud at that revelation, "Yeah well brah hate to tell you this, but she is right."

"What?"

"Okay, for example you always say that Steve is reckless and acting without thinking first?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, did you ever see him endanger you, Kono, me or any other officer or even an innocent bystander?"

"He got me shot a few hours after I met him!"

"Yeah well you were the backup, were you behind his back? No you went up there first, so that was really not his fault. Wasn't it? Let's just say that was an unfortunate course of events."

Chin is almost grinning now, "OK back to my question did you ever see him endanger anyone?"

"Nooo, just himself. He is always on the front line."

"Right, because he counts on us, his team, to have his back. Danny, he's not reckless, he just knows what he, and we, are capable of. He pushes himself and us to the limit, but that is not reckless. That is just accomplishing the mission under any circumstances. Don't forget he is not a cop."

"Yeah that's the other thing, he has no regard for protocol, and he doesn't even know what that is."

"Again Danny you are so completely wrong. I bet you a month salary that he could quote you any rule there is in the book. Do you really think he would take a job without preparing himself for it? I bet he would pass any test with flying colors. He just chooses to ignore most rules. And why not? With the backing of the Governor and all. But when it counts he does follow the rules, there was not one case thrown out of the courts because of lack of protocol. So when it counts he does know how to do something the right way."

"Why isn't he ever saying a thing? I mean I accuse him almost every day of some horrible thing he did."

"Maybe he just likes you complaining all the time. He knows that it is all in good fun. Danny, don't think too much about it. You two are great together, don't overthink your relationship or if you have him figured out completely or not. I doubt that anyone has him figured out."

Danny looks at his friends, but he's not so sure that he can follow Chin's advice. Maybe he should think about Steve some more, maybe he should get some more Intel on his past life, about what he did in his years with the Navy.

"Danny we need to leave for a bit, we promised our uncle to come by. But we will be back around seven. You okay here on your own? One of us could stay."

"No you two go, I'll be fine here with our sleeping princess."

"Promise to call if he wakes up."

"Danny don't leave him alone, okay? When he wakes up someone should be here."

"Kono please, I'm his backup, right? Now go."

In the early afternoon Danny's left alone with his still unconscious friend and has more than enough time to think about what Catherine, Chin and Kono said.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve feels dizzy and his head hurts. He tries to remember what happened or where he is. _Why is my leg so heavy? Argh, bad idea. Don't move._ Pain is shooting down his abdomen when he lightly moves to get more comfortable. He tries to move his left arm, to touch his arching head, but can't quite make it. His arm feels heavy and detached from the rest of his body. There's a pressure on his right side, every breath hurts and it's getting harder to breathe as he becomes more awake. The various injuries are making themselves known with pain in as many shades as his bruises were colorful. From the mild throbbing pain in his leg, arm and back to the intense pain of his ribs and head and the nauseating pain of his hip and abdomen. The wild fire in his lower abdomen is almost unbearable.

He desperately tries not to move, to not aggravate the pain in any way, but his muscles are working on their own accord and soon he's shaking uncontrollably. The level of pain he is experiencing is nothing he's ever felt before. It feels like an enormous weight is pressing on the right side of his lower abdomen but at the same time it feels like his insides are pressing with extreme force to get out. With every muscle spasm, his agony is getting worse.

Steve is groaning loudly, his heart rate is through the roof as is his blood pressure. He tries to call for help, but he can't form any words nor has he the breath to call out. He feels the bile rising and knows that he can't stop himself from throwing up. He gets violently sick, triggered by the intense pain he is in.

At that point he is barely conscious but still has the presence of mind to turn on his left side so that he won't choke. His turning is not graceful or coordinated, and he bumps his right leg against the bedrail which make him cry out in pain. Before he finally passes out again he has one fleeting thought about why he's alone in a hospital room and why no one is aware of his distress.

H50 – H50 – H50

At the nurse's station, no one is aware of the situation in Steve's room. That's not their fault, but the fault of the computer system. The data stream from the patient rooms is not transferred to the station, so they don't get an alarm signal. Unbeknownst to them, they have a complete system failure. What they get on their monitors is an hour old data that is in a constant loop, a loop that blocks the live data from the monitors of the patient rooms. And since the blinds of the glass wall of Steve's room are slightly closed they can't see what was happening.

The second Steve bumps his leg on the bedrail and passes out; Chin and Kono step into the room. To say that they are shocked at what they saw would be an understatement.

Steve lies on his left side, with his right leg and arm hanging over the bedrail, his IV has been ripped out and blood is dripping down onto the blanket. He is bathed in sweat and even though he is unconscious, one can see the pain lines in his face. A face that lies in his own bile that is still running out of his half open mouth. The monitors attached to his bed are blinking and beeping wildly. The heart monitor is wailing in an almost constant sound, but the tone is almost muted to not disturb the patient.

Chin is at his side in a flash while Kono screams for help.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is standing in front of the hospital to get some fresh air. He just spent the last twelve hours in a hospital room watching his best friend sleeping. _No you moron he is not sleeping, he is still unconscious._ He is correcting himself. It's now Sunday 7.30 pm, he can't believe that is was barely thirty-six hours since this whole ordeal began. For almost twenty-four of them, they have been at this damn hospital and waiting for Steve to finally grace them with his presence. Well his mental presence. But no such luck so far. This morning, it seemed like he would wake up but that hope was short lived and since then he didn't move much and did not come closer to being awake.

Danny is just about to head back when he spots Catherine. When this all began on Saturday, she was kind of losing it, but now she's stronger than he could ever be. He wonders where she took the strength from, "Hey Cath."

"Danny. Needed some fresh air, huh?"

"Yeah it got a bit boring to watch him sleep. He is not very entertaining at the moment."

"Don't worry he will be soon."

"How can you be so sure? Don't mind me saying that, but when he was missing, you were kind of, I don't know, out of it. But now you're so sure and confident. Me, I'm the other way round, I was sure to find him, but now I'm really worried."

"I've been through this before. Steve is a fighter, he's now in the hospital, his injuries are not life threatening, they are painful, but Steve is really good in dealing with pain. He will heal pretty fast, as soon as he finally decides to wake up."

"Yeah he is a bit stubborn about that."

"You haven't seen the half of it. Last time I had to wait three full days for him to wake up and before that four days. Steve doesn't handle head injuries well. Even a minor concussion will sideline him for a day or two. He hasn't had a concussion since you've known him, has he?"

"No he hasn't, he's bumped his head a few times, but no concussion."

They are now on the floor of the ICU where they almost run into Kono and Chin.

"Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to watch him!"

"What? Kono what's wrong? I was just getting some fresh air, I was gone for ten minutes, what's going on?"

"Steve woke up," Chin is calmly telling them.

"That's great. Is the doctor with him, that's why you're out here?"

"No it's not great. Yes Dr. Hope is with him. He woke up and no one was there. No one was there to see the monitors go high wire, his BP and heart rate went through the roof. When he became more awake he was in intense pain it got so bad that he got sick and in order not to choke he turned on his side, tore his IV out, bumped his leg and finally passed out again."

"Where the hell was the nurse or the doctor, their alarm should have gone off the second his heart rate changed."

"No alarm went off, they are still investigating what went wrong but their whole system is down. But where have you been, why didn't you wait for us? We promised Steve not to leave him alone. But we did. I can't even imagine in what kind of pain he must have been," Kono is near tears.

"I'm sorry, they said that he would not wake up for at least a few more hours. Do you think I would have left him if I'd known he would wake up?"

"Hey, all of you calm down. Chin is Steve okay now? Is he awake?"

"Dr. Hope is with him, he was unconscious when we left."

H50 – H50 – H50

All of them file in the room, regardless of the two people already occupying the hospital room. Dr. Hope is just checking the IV lines and the readings of the monitors. Steve is settled in his bed and appears to be sleeping peacefully.

"I'll be right with you, just let me finish the checkup."

He is busy with Steve for another minute and then he turns his attention to the Five-0's and Catherine, "I'm truly sorry for what happened to Commander McGarrett. We're still investigating why the system was down. I've put him on some pain meds now, but nothing to heavy, we still want him to wake up soon. He ripped not just his IV out, so we had to put a new Foley in. Fortunately he didn't injure himself while turning on his side. I don't expect him to wake up for at least another few hours."

"Steve always has a hard time with head injuries."

"Yes Catherine that seems to be the case. I read up on his medical file and it seems that he is always taking a bit longer to wake up than it would normally take. He also seems to have a problem with accompanying nausea and dizziness."

"Yeah no matter what meds they were giving him, nothing seemed to help him with the nausea. He threw up for days after he woke up, couldn't keep anything down."

"Hopefully we will be able to prevent that this time."

Anyone who knew Steve McGarrett would know that that would not be the case.

H50 – H50 – H50

All four of Steve's friends are settled in the room, no one willing to leave again. They are too worried that something else might happen to him.

So they wait, always a close eye on Steve. All the while talking in soft voices so not to disturb him, but providing a familiar background. If he comes around, he will be able to hear his friend's voices right away.

They only have to wait two hours for the next episode, as Dr. Hope likes to call them, to happen.

Soft noises are invading his senses. It sounds like they were far away, they are muffled and really low. He tries to understand what is said but that requires more energy than he currently has. So he is just content to lay there and listen to the soft noises which lull him back to sleep.

Next time he comes to, there is no soft talking, just some annoying beeping. He tries to figure out what kind of torture device would make such a noise. It gives him a major headache. He tries to move away from the noise but that only results in a weak movement of his head which inflicts even more pain. He feels dizzy and nauseous. He desperately tries to swallow the bile that rises up, but the nausea just overpowers him and he starts to choke on his own bile.

Getting sick while lying on your back is not such a good idea, so he starts choking and coughing in earnest. All kind of noises are now ringing around him. The beeping sound is now so fast that it is almost one long wailing tone. There are all kinds of alarm bells going off. Suddenly he feels himself being turned on the side and he coughs more easily and can breathe again.

While he was lying on his back, there was only the pain in his head, but now he has been rolled on his side, the pain from his ribs, back, and especially his leg, are chiming in into the choir. He can't suppress the groan that escapes. He doesn't even want to suppress it, since the only thing he wants is to go back to that painless quiet place where he was a few minutes ago.

But that won't happen any time soon. There is a flurry of activity around him. All kind of voices are talking to him. He wants to scream to shut the hell up, but he's sure that he only manages some mumbled gibberish.

"Did he just say shut the hell up?" He knows that voice but can't say from where. _But maybe he would help him?_

"Yes of course I'll help you. Steve, you with us?"

Danny Williams is looking at the doctor and the nurses who are all trying to make his friend more comfortable. It's clear to him that Steve's in dire distress right now and he has no idea what to do about it. "Please just stop. Please let me talk to him, you're hurting him."

"Detective, please we need to settle him. Please all of you wait outside."

One of the nurses tries to direct them out of the room, but Danny won't let that happen. It was then that they all heard it.

"Help me," there's such anguish in those whispered words that everyone stops what they are doing and look in wonder at Danny Williams who is at his friend's bedside in an instant.

Danny touches his partners shoulder to let him know that he was there, since Steve has yet to open his eyes, "Steve I'm here, I'm here. You're safe, okay. We're going to help you, all right. They will give you something for the pain and you can go to sleep. We will be here when you wake up again. Nothing is going to happen to you again, I promise. Just relax. I've got you."

But Steve doesn't relax, he seems to recoil from the voice until the doctor injects something into Steve's IV. He calms down almost instantly and his breathing levels out.

"What the hell just happened here? I thought you gave him something for his pain and the nausea? What is going on?"

"Detective I assure you, nothing is going on. Commander McGarrett just woke up again. He got sick, unfortunately while he was still on his back. That sent his body into distress. It is unfortunate but nothing unusual. He will be fine. He will probably not even remember any of this. He is resting easy now. The anti-nausea meds are obviously not working; they never did before so we can only ride that out."

"I'm not going to leave this room again," Danny doesn't see this episode as easy as the doctor.

"That is fine you all can stay with him. As strange as it may sound but all these are good signs. The Commander is way overdue to wake up properly, so let's take this in a good way. He is finding his way back and will hopefully wake again soon."

"What do you mean hopefully? Something you didn't tell us Doctor Hope," Catherine anxiously chimes in into the conversation.

"No, as I said earlier Commander McGarrett was unconscious for over twenty-four hours. And I mean unconscious. He was not asleep. There is a big difference between sleep and unconsciousness. The blow or blows to the head he received did quite a lot of damage. As you know he suffered a severe concussion and a hairline fracture of the skull. Even without any bleeding and only minimal swelling, which is a miracle in itself, it is still a very serious head injury. We will only know what we are dealing with when he wakes up."

"Dealing with, what do you mean?"

"There is always the danger of brain damage."

There is the word that they have all been avoiding for the last twenty-four hours. Ever since they found Steve deeply unconscious in the forest. Ever since they couldn't rouse him at all, not in the jungle, not on the flight to the hospital or in the ER.

"Brain Damage?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. I don't think that there is any. But there is always the possibility. It can range from mild memory loss to any kind of disability. Don't think worst case scenario. His waking up episodes are somewhat worrisome, but as I know from his medical file, normal for him. So let's wait and see. As of now there is no indication that there will be any form of lingering effects."

H50 - H50 - H50

**_So do you think it's time for Steve to wake up properly? Well I think so too. Catch him do that on Sunday._**

**_Thanks for still hanging in there!_**

**_Sneak Peek into the next one:_**

**Chapter 12 – Assess the damage**

Steve McGarrett is trying to concentrate on his surroundings but has a hard time doing so. He figured out a few minutes ago that he is lying in a bed. If the smell is any indication that bed is in a hospital room and according to all the noises around him is standing in an ICU. Why he is there on the other hand completely eludes him. He lets his thoughts stray away from the why and tries to figure out how he's feeling.


	12. Chapter 12 Assess the Damage

**_So it's Sunday and as promised Steve is going to wake up. And since we have a long holiday weekend I will actually give you two chapters. Hope you will enjoy. _**

**Chapter 12 – Assess the damage**

Steve McGarrett is trying to concentrate on his surroundings but has a hard time doing so. He figured out a few minutes ago that he is lying in a bed. If the smell is any indication that bed is in a hospital room and according to all the noises around him is standing in an ICU. Why he is there on the other hand completely eludes him. He lets his thoughts stray away from the why and tries to figure out how he's feeling.

He goes through all his body parts one by one. A technique he learned a while ago to keep him from thinking of the nausea that rolls over him in waves. That nausea makes it clear to him that he at least has a concussion. His head hurts somewhat but not too bad as long as he is not moving. A mistake he made a minute ago, which results in a stabbing pain. So he keeps completely still from there on.

He starts his inventory with his leg; he tries to wiggle his toes which results in a mild pain shooting up to his knee; where it seems that his leg ends somehow. _Strange, well let's not dwell on that now._ So he goes over to his left leg. _Hmm, nothing wrong there. Nice, no pain, everything in working order._ Next on the plan is moving his hip. That is definitely not in working order and sends excruciating pain right over to his abdomen. He has a really hard time not groaning out loud and keeping his breathing even. What he can't control however is his heart rate that changes from just below sixty to over a hundred in a second. And that results in a warning alarm. Again.

_Great so much for pretending to be asleep_. Steve is not willing to face anyone just yet. So he just keeps quiet, his eyes closed and goes on with his inventory, ignoring the people who are talking to him.

He concentrates on his arms. _Okay, cast on the left one, but only my forearm, well okay, right one? Hmm seems okay. Argh, don't take deep breaths and DON'T move your head._ When he's finished with his counting of injuries, he's panting and that's when he can't keep in the groan any longer and is finally able to tune in to the voices that have been trying to get his attention for a while now.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is just starting to explain why it is imperative to go to a professional baseball game if you want to eat a decent hot dog, the only place in the world where you can get one, when the alarm of Steve's heart monitor starts to wail.

They all go to his bed and try to make sense of what they see. It seems like Steve is in deep conversation with someone if his animated face is any indication.

"I know THAT face. Steve stop thinking so hard or you will not only have the face but will actually give yourself an aneurism."

It is obvious that Steve's not unconscious anymore, but it's still not clear what he's doing.

"Steve? Can you hear me," Catherine is trying to get his attention; she grabs his hand and is quietly talking to him.

"m'wake"

Cath smiles down at him even if he can't see that since his eyes are still tightly closed.

Danny goes to his left side and lays his hand on his shoulder as he has done a few times before, "Hey partner welcome back."

That only evokes a facial expression on the injured man that speaks clearly of confusion. The Five-0's look somewhat irritated at each other.

The soft smile is back on their leader's face when he hears Catherine's voice again, "Hey sailor can you open your eyes for me?"

Dr. Hope has been in the room for a few minutes now but is not interfering with Catherine's gentle prodding. They all can see that Steve is reacting to Catherine and trying to open his eyes. After a moment, he manages to look at her with blurry eyes, he blinks a few times and is finally able to focus on her.

"m'sick"

"I know you're sick and dizzy, I'm sorry just try to breathe through it. Remember how we did this before?"

She is leaning over him and is speaking slowly to him in a low and soft voice. It is obvious that those two are not going through this scenario for the first time.

"Steve you're in pain?"

"Hmmm, hip and bit lower. . .hard. . .to breathe. . ."

His speech is lightly slurred and very low-voiced; they have to strain to hear him. Dr. Hope steps up to his patient.

"Commander, I'm Dr. Hope. I'd like to do some tests, it will be quick and then I'll give you something more for the pain, okay?"

Steve again has that confused look on his face, "'kay"

"Can you tell me your full name?"

"Lieutenant. . .Argh. . .Steven. . .McGarrett."

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Got hurt?"

"Let me rephrase that, do you remember what happened?"

"Not. . .really. . .had Dinner. . .with Cath. . .a Plane. . .crashed. . .wet and cold"

They can clearly see that he's exhausted.

"Cath. . .Hurts!"

"Okay, Steve this is enough for now, I'm going to give you something now that will make you go back to sleep, all right?"

With that, he injects something in Steve's IV and he relaxes immediately, soon his breathing evens out and he's sleeping peacefully.

"Well how close to the events was he," Dr. Hope is addressing Steve's friends.

"We had Dinner the night he was taken, he was in a plane crash, well a helicopter actually and it was raining, and I guess he was surely cold."

Danny is listening to the listing of events. But he can't shake the nagging feeling that something is not right.

H50 - H50 - H50


	13. Chapter 13 Right Time

**Chapter 13 - Right Time**

After Dr. Hope checks his patient one last time he leaves with the promise to check back in an hour. When they are alone again Danny focuses on Catherine, "Cath what rank did Steve have in 2005?"

"He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander at the end of the year. Why?"

"When did he get injured in this parachute accident?"

"In May 2005."

"So he was a Lieutenant then?"

"Yeah he was. What are you getting at?"

"What kind of accident was it, what exactly happened?"

"They were practicing HALO's for their next op. . ."

"HALO's," Kono wants to know.

"High Altitude Low Opening. They jump out of a plane from altitudes between twenty-five thousand and thirty-five thousand feet and open their parachute at a very low altitude. That way they can insert into enemy territory undetected."

"You mean he jumped from at least 5 miles to the ground? Just for training?"

"Well yeah, preparation is everything Danny. Anyway his chute didn't open, he ejected it and opened his reserve. But they opened their chutes really low so there wasn't much time and his reserve didn't work properly. When he crashed into the ocean he was still way too fast. He got hurt really badly, broke two vertebrae, thank god no spinal cord injury, very painful kidney injury, shattered his leg and ankle, suffered a traumatic-brain-injury, he was in a coma for three days. They didn't think that he would ever go back to active duty. Of course he proved everyone wrong after just four months."

"So let me get this straight, he was on a plane, jumped and crashed into the cold water?"

"Danny what is this about?"

"He said his name was Lieutenant Steven McGarrett. Not Lieutenant Commander. And he looked really confused when I spoke up and when Dr. Hope addressed him as Commander. I think he is in the wrong time zone."

"You mean he thinks it's 2005?"

"Yeah I do."

H50 - H50 - H50

There it is again, the voice that confuses him so much. He knows that voice but he just can't place it. Whenever he hears it he sees himself in a car. That voice is talking a mile a minute and it makes his head hurt. He associates a gun and being hit with that voice, it scares him. But he realizes that the talking is only in his head and that there is no real threat here at the moment. The room is quiet now, except for the low beeping of a heart monitor. He feels a hand laying in his right, he gives it a squeeze but nothing happens. He moves his head lightly and tries to open his eyes. Not an easy task as they feel like they are glued shut.

After what seems like minutes, he manages to open them and take a look at his surroundings. The room is slightly out of focus and he feels like he is on a boat gently rocking on the waves. Through the small window comes soft sunlight, which leaves Steve to believe that it is either early morning or late evening, he can't say which. In a chair next to his bed sits Catherine in what seems like a very uncomfortable position; fast asleep. She looks tired and worried, like she is not sleeping peacefully. He squeezes her hand again but she doesn't wake up.

He slowly turns his head to the left, which results in him losing focus again. The only thing he now sees are blurry images of moving colors. That makes him really sick to his stomach, but he breathes through the bout of nausea that threatens to overwhelm him. When his vision clears again, he can see that he is lying in a room with a glass wall and no real door, just an opening to the far end of the wall. The vertical blinds are half closed so he can't really see what is going on outside his room. But he knows that he is in the ICU.

He turns his head back to the right but this time with his eyes closed. That works better; no nausea this time. Steve waits a few seconds before he opens them again. Cath is still deeply asleep, so he just settles down to watch her.

H50 - H50 - H50

Catherine becomes aware that someone is watching her. It's the creepiest feeling and when she opens her eyes she remembers that she is still in the hospital room next to Steve's bed. She tries to get the kinks out of her neck and let her eyes roam over his monitors and his sleeping form just like she had done all day, ever since his first waking up last night. But this time is different, because when she looks over at Steve, two sleepy slightly glazed over eyes are looking back at her.

"Steve! You're awake," Cath whispers in surprise and bends over to touch his cheek.

"Hmmmm"

"How are you feeling?"

Steve is looking at her and it is clear that he is trying to come up with an answer. But he has a hard time forming coherent words.

"Not good," he replies finally in a low raspy voice.

Just as Cath gently touches his forehead, to feel if he is still too warm and give him some comfort, Danny comes into the room but stays a bit back so not to disturb the conversation.

When she lies her hand on his forehead, he has his eyes closed, her touch feels soft and cool on his overheated skin. He sneezes lightly and scrunches up his face in obvious pain.

"Are you hurting?"

"Hmmm."

"Is that a hm-yes or a hm-no? Steve?"

Catherine can clearly see that Steve is not really with her but is trying his best to stay awake. He slowly opens his eyes again.

"Only my. . .head hurts."

"Is it bad, do you need more pain meds?"

"s'okay. Tired." Steve's eyes close, he opens them again when another sneeze shakes him. He looks unfocused at her; he is losing the battle to stay awake pretty fast.

"Cath? Who's Danno? He. . .keeps screaming. . .at me. . .in my head. Makes it. . .hurt more," his voice is so soft and low now that she can barely hear him, "Tell. . .him to. . .shut up. . .please." His eyes close and his breathing evens out.

H50 - H50 - H50

Before Danny has a chance to say anything about the development he just witnessed, a doctor and a nurse come into the room. They start to unhook Steve from his various monitors.

"Excuse me who are you, what are you doing?"

"I'm Dr. Lynn, the Commander's physician as long as Dr. Hope is not here. I should have introduces myself, I'm sorry."

"Where is Dr. Hope?"

"You are Detective Williams?"

"Yeah I am, where is Dr. Hope?"

"He is off duty at the moment. He will be back in a few hours. But we need to get the Commander downstairs to the OR."

"Wow, what? Why?"

"Don't be alarmed, we just need to aspirate the mucus that has gathered in his lungs. It's nothing to worry about, because of his cold he would normally cough, but his body is suppressing that because he is not really awake and coughing would hurt him. So we need to get rid of all that stuff in his lungs for him or it will start to compromise his breathing."

"That doesn't sound like fun."

"No it's not. But he is going to be sedated he won't feel a thing. While we have him downstairs we're going to do another MRI of his head and some other tests. Dr. Hope is a bit worried that Commander McGarrett is not more alert yet."

Meanwhile they have Steve ready for transport and are wheeling his bed out of the room.

"He'll be back in about an hour. Why don't you get some coffee while he is gone? You look like you'll need it."

They watch their friend being wheeled into the elevator and decide to follow the doctor's order and grab some snacks.

When they come back about an hour later Steve is not back so they settle in for the wait. They have no idea that Steve didn't even arrive at the OR yet. They have no idea what is going on two floors below.

H50 - H50 - H50

_**Thanks for reading.**_

_**So will Danny shut up? I didn't think so either. LOL**_

_**As always another Sneak Peek into the next chapter:**_

**Chapter 14 - Getting down**

Steve becomes slowly aware of his surroundings; he is not in the ICU anymore. This room is way smaller and next to his bed are two people he never saw before. He also becomes aware that he is hurting, a minute ago he didn't feel any pain, but with any passing minute it gets worse.

"Where am I," his voice sounds strange even to his own ears.

"Commander? Look at me."

Steve tries to follow that order but he squeezes his eyes shut when a sneeze shakes his whole body and sends him into a world of pain.


	14. Chapter 14 Getting down

_**I really truly love you guys. Thank you so much for your support, it's just great and it exceeds my wildest expectations. Thank you.**_

_You really think I let Steve be kidnapped right under Danny's nose? LOL _

_There can be tons of reasons why Steve never made it to the OR, well let's find out one of them. :-)_

**Chapter 14 - Getting down**

Steve becomes slowly aware of his surroundings; he is not in the ICU anymore. This room is way smaller and next to his bed are two people he never saw before. He also becomes aware that he is hurting, a minute ago he didn't feel any pain, but with any passing minute it gets worse.

"Where am I," his voice sounds strange even to his own ears.

"Commander? Look at me."

Steve tries to follow that order but he squeezes his eyes shut when a sneeze shakes his whole body and sends him into a world of pain.

He can hardly breathe, his ribs are screaming and the pain radiating from his hip across his lower abdomen is so bad that he can't fight the tear that is rolling down his cheek. His arm and leg are throbbing mercilessly with every heartbeat, but his head is probably the worst. It feels like his brain is trying to get out through his ears and a hole in his forehead. He isn't sure if he has a hole in his forehead but it feels like his brain is trying its best to get through it anyway.

"Commander listen to me, you need to breathe, try to take deep breaths."

All Steve can do is pant and writh in agony as waves of pain wreck his body. He is coughing breathlessly and bloody spit is decorating the sheet.

Dr. Lynn curses herself now for not taking the morphine pump that was attached to Steve's bed with them on the trip down to the OR. But since he is sedated and the trip would just take two minutes and he would have been put under in the OR anyway, she took all unnecessary stuff off of the bed. Who could have known that they would be stuck in an elevator for over 90 minutes? A few minutes ago her patient woke up, because his pain meds had left his system and left him in considerable pain. Pain that will get worse with every minute he has to spend without proper pain medication.

H50 - H50 - H50

"What is taking them so long, she said an hour," Catherine is looking at her watch for the umpteenth time.

"You wanna go down there? Check on him?"

"Yeah. Let's go find out what's going on."

They leave Steve's ICU room and go to the stairs to get down to the OR level. When they reach the floor they can hear the commotion even before they open the door. When they arrive at the elevator they can't believe what they see. The door of the elevator is open but there is no cabin there. They can only see the bottom of it; two technicians are trying to get access to a control panel and are fiddling with the wiring. Nurses and doctors are standing around and everyone is discussing how to get to the cabin.

"Is someone in it," Danny is trying to get an answer from a bystander when they hear a scream. A blood curling scream of pain.

Next thing they hear is Dr. Lynn who is screaming even loader.

"I don't frigging care how you do it, I need morphine in here NOW. Crash the ceiling or get us down, I don't care but do it NOW!"

"Oh god Danny, Steve's in there."

Danny grabs one of the technicians and almost screams in his face.

"Where is the fire-rescue-team?"

"We didn't call them, we thought we could handle it, we just need to lower the cabin."

Danny is looking at them like they are just growing two heads, "You idiots!"

He turns and grabs the next best Doctor, "Take whatever she might need in there and come with me. Now move it!"

With that he is gone and runs to the stairs. On his way up he snatches an ax that is hanging next to the fire-alarm button and makes his way out to the floor above the stuck elevator. The young Doctor hot on his heels.

It is easy to open the elevator door, he just has to press the ax into the slit of the sliding door and press some. It opens almost automatically. The cabin is right in front of him not even two feet below.

"Doc step back."

Another scream can be heard, a lot weaker but more anguished than before. It spurs Danny on even more, "Dr. Lynn! I'm going to open up the ceiling, try to step back."

With that he swings the ax. After four hits he has a hole in it of about 11 inches in diameter.

"Get your stuff down there. Dr. Lynn grab the bag."

By the time Danny is on top of them, the situation in the cabin is deteriorating fast. Steve is hyperventilating and can't take a breath, he is groaning in agony and is only semiconscious, but his body won't let him pass out. While he was in the worst throws of pain he was wildly flailing his arm and hit the bedrail and cracked his cast which is now adding to the excrutiating pain he is experiencing

"Steve? Steve I'm going to take the pain away OK, it will only be a minute now. Hang in there."

By some small miracle Steve's IV stayed in place so she can deliver the drugs easily into his system. When Danny gives the bag down he looks into the cabin. There is his friend bathed in sweat, head bent back and silently screaming of the blinding agony he is in. Danny's heart breaks seeing him like this. He can't bear the thought of what hell Steve is going through, just because two idiots thought they could handle the situation alone.

Danny leaves the roof and goes back onto the OR-floor. Finally the fire rescue arrives and take care of the situation. It only takes them five minutes to lower the cabin to the floor of its original destination.

Steve is whisked away to the OR to assess the damage done by being stuck in an elevator for over ninety minutes without any pain medication.

When Chin and Kono arrive Catherine and Danny inform them of what happened.

"Listen why don't you wait in the ICU for Steve? I have something to do first."

"Danny what are you doing? I think I better come with you," Chin just looks at Danny and knows that Danny is going to look for the two hospital employees he thinks responsible for Steve's suffering.

H50 – H50 – H50

The first thing Dr. Hope hears when he comes back to duty is about the ordeal his patient went through. So it is no wonder that he practically storms into the room where Steve is being treated. Steve is sporting a new cast, again in dark blue, from the base of his fingers to just above his elbow. For the first time since he is in the hospital his chest is tightly wrapped in bandages. During the episode in the elevator another of his badly hurt ribs broke, shifted and nearly pierced his lung. They had to set it and the bandage is helping to keep it in place.

During the time he had to endure the onslaught of pain his body was overflown with adrenaline, now with it ebbing after the crisis his body is close to shutting down.

Due to his broken ribs and the nasty cold that is developing Steve's breathing is compromised and his doctors are tempted to intubate him. But they are able to stabilize him and so Steve barely avoids to be put on a ventilator.

"Jenn what happened how is he," Dr. Hope is addressing his colleague.

Dr. Lynn gives a run-down of the events in the elevator and closes with the admission that it was a stupid idea to take her patient off his medication even if it was just for a short while.

"Yes it was a mistake but you had no way of seeing these kinds of consequences. Before we get him back to his room I like to wake him up."

"What? Mark he just went through some terrible pain, he should be kept sedated."

"Yes I know, but we need to know if we can rouse him and if he is alert or if we are dealing with a more serious situation."

Dr. Jenna Lynn is critical of this decision and voices her concern.

"Jenn I know this is not ideal, but McGarrett has not really been alert since he got here and I was not able to perform any necessary tests. Let's do that while he is down here. Then we can decide if we need to do something else about his head injury."

Dr. Hope injects some milky liquid into Steve's IV to counteract the narcotics in order to wake his patient.

"Stop the morphine bump for now."

It only takes a minute for Steve to stir out of his drug induced sleep.

H50 - H50 - H50

Steve blinks several times to clear his vision. He lost count of the number of rooms he woke up in over the course of the last few hours. This is another new room he hasn't been before. Two blurry faces come into his line of vision. He has some trouble to bring them into focus but finally he manages it.

"Commander, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

Steve thinks about that for a few seconds and is pleasantly surprised when he comes up with a negative answer to that, "No. . .not really. . .my arm hurts some. . .why is. . .new cast. . .what?"

His word processor doesn't work like he wants it to, but Dr. Hope understands him anyway, "Steve do you remember what happened? "

"Was in an elevator. . .really hurt. . .don't know. . .someone was after me. . ."

The two doctors are looking alarmed at each other.

"Who was after you Steve?"

"Guy with an ax. . .same guy. . .in my head. . .heard his voice. . .drew a gun on me. . .and hit me. . . he screams at me. . .stuck in a car with him. . .he's scary. . .he was in ICU. . .touched me. . .keep him away from me. . .please. . ."

Steve becomes very agitated while he is talking about a guy who he thinks is after him.

"Steve calm down, no one is going to hurt you here. We'll keep him away from you, we promise."

"Where's Cath. . .please. . .see her. . ."

"OK, Catherine will be here soon, now please try to calm down."

"Steve do you remember why you are in the hospital?"

"Not sure. . .so many pictures. . .I'm in the water. . .but it's in the jungle. . .on a boat. . .they kicked me. . .then I fell. . .got shot. . .dusty and hot. . .beat me. . .it's all mixed up. . .argh my belly hurts."

"Jenn turn the pump back on. Steve listen to me. You're pretty badly hurt and I was very worried about your head injury, you took a long time to wake up and were not alert yet. It's normal for you to not remember clearly, but you seem to be more alert now."

"Always take. . .long to wake up. . .feel sick. . .please get Cath"

The morphine released in his system starts to take effect again and Steve closes his eyes, "Don't let. . .scary guy. . .in. . .room."

With that he goes back to sleep and Dr. Hope prepares him to get back to ICU.

H50 - H50 - H50

_**Uh oh, who might 'scary guy' be? Thank you so much for reading and sticking around. Reviews are great but just reading is also OK. **_

_**Let's take another look at what's still to come:**_

**Chapter 15 - Keep him out**

When Dr. Hope comes into the ICU he is not surprised to see the whole Five-0 team and Catherine Rollins. He long gave up to get them to keep his two-people-at-a-time-policy. He is however very surprised to see the Governor of Hawaii in his hospital. He thought she was still on the mainland.

"Pat, good to see you, I didn't know you were back from the conference."

"I arrived just an hour ago. Thank you for taking care of McGarrett, I appreciate you staying for him."

"No problem, you know that those symposiums are mostly boring anyway."


	15. Chapter 15 Keep him out

_**Now it starts to get interesting. I mean a resting Steve is nice and all, but I prefer him awake, so this will be the last chapter with a sleeping Steve. It took me 15 chapters to set the stage - for getting the people where I want them to be. Now the story really begins. LOL **_

_**So don't worry there is still a lot to come. Hope you will stick around; drop me a line if you like. Thanks to everyone who already did, you guys are great. BUT I also appreciate everyone who is not reviewing and is just reading. Hope you guys also enjoy the story.**_

**Chapter 15 - Keep him out**

When Dr. Hope comes into the ICU he is not surprised to see the whole Five-0 team and Catherine Rollins. He long gave up to get them to keep his two-people-at-a-time-policy. He is however very surprised to see the Governor of Hawaii in his hospital. He thought she was still on the mainland.

"Pat, good to see you, I didn't know you were back from the conference."

"I arrived just an hour ago. Thank you for taking care of McGarrett, I appreciate you staying for him."

"No problem, you know that those symposiums are mostly boring anyway."

It is pretty clear that the Governor and Dr. Hope know each other and that Jameson pulled in some favors to get Dr. Hope on Steve's case.

"How is he? His team informed me of the incident a few hours ago. Where is he, is he all right?"

Mark Hope wonders for a moment what kind of connection between McGarrett and the Governor is; she seems genuinely worried about him, more than you would expect from an employer/ employee-relationship.

"Well. . .he will be back here shortly but I need to talk to you all first. Commander McGarrett went through a period of excruciating pain. He would normally handle his injuries, even though that they are extremely painful, very well. But because of his head injury he is not able to do that. His brain is intensifying his pain reception at the moment, because of that the time in the elevator were extremely stressful for him. He was in very intense pain, which prompted his body to release a high amount of adrenaline. Which prevented him from passing out, which would have been a blessing. After he was given some drugs for the pain, he crashed hard. We barely avoided intubating him. Don't worry he is stable now."

"Did he injure himself any further," Danny saw the cracked cast and is worried about it.

"Unfortunately yes he did. He hit his arm with excessive force into the bedrail and cracked his cast that resulted in is partially broken arm to completely break through. We had to set the bone and put a new cast on. Since the break is high up the forearm and with it now completely broken we had to include the joint of the elbow into the cast to stabilize it. But he does not need surgery and it should heal completely in about four to six weeks. He also broke another rib, we had to set that one, because it shifted and threatened to pierce his lung. But we could avoid that. Now to the important part.

"I was able to talk to him and he was way more alert than all the other times he was awake. He is not clear on the details of what happened, but that is normal. During his time on active duty he suffered some trauma and he can't separate one from the other at the moment. They are kind of mixed together. He is not really clear about the timeframe. I doubt he knows what day or even year we have. But that is not what is worrying me at the moment."

Dr. Hope focused on Danny, "Detective Williams, did you ever hit the Commander?"

"What? Did I hit Steve?"

"Did you ever drew a gun on him and scream at him?"

"Danny is always screaming at him, that's just how they work, what are you getting at," Chin is now chiming in into the conversation.

Danny is at a loss of what to say to the questions of Dr. Hope, of course he knows that the answer to every question is a yes, but he still don't understand why he wants to know.

"Steve is scared of you. He practically begged me to keep you away from him. He thinks that you are after him, that you want to kill him. I'm sorry but I can't allow you to see him at the moment."

"What? You've got to be kidding me."

"No Detective I'm not. Steve is terrified of you. He was desperate to see Catherine, so she will be the only one allowed with him. For now. Please all of you go home, it's late anyway. We will see how he is tomorrow."

Just as Danny starts to protest Steve is wheeled back into the room, deeply asleep. He looks very peaceful lying on his back with his leg elevated and his newly casted arm propped up on a pillow. No one would have guessed that he was in dire distress just a short while ago.

H50 - H50 - H50

Danny is still ranting when they reach the parking lot. Kono, Chin and Danny that is, while Cath stayed with Steve.

"I can't believe this; he cannot just shut me out like that. Who is that Doctor anyway?"

"Danny calm down, he is just thinking about what's best for his patient," Chin tries to be the word of reason. Again he wonders how he always seems to end up with that role.

"Calm down? Calm down? Are you out of your mind? That Doctor is totally nuts. Steve is terrified of me? Terrified? SuperSEAL doesn't even know how to spell that word. Scared of me! That is just so. . ."

"DANNY!"

"WHAT?"

"Will you stop that? Please don't take this personally. . ."

"Personally? You don't want me to take this personally? My BEST friend is lying up there and told some total stranger that he is scared of me and doesn't want to see me, because he is terrified that I might hurt him. And you don't want me to take this personally?"

"You're right Danny that was a poor choice of words. But you know what, Steve at least remembers you. Kono and I don't even exist in his world."

Danny has to smile at that a little, "Yeah well I'm not sure what I prefer."

"Listen guys it's really late, we should head home and meet again here say at nine in the morning? I'm sure we will figure something out. And Danny, Chin is right Dr. Hope is just thinking about Steve. And we should do too. He is badly hurt and I'm sure when he feels a bit better he will remember all of us."

"Yeah Danny remember Cath said he always has a hard time after a head injury. She has a lot more experience with him than we do, so we should trust her. She said she will talk to him about us. So let's just wait a few hours and for god's sake calm down."

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just that I'm so worried. Don't tell him that, but I can't lose that big goof, he is my brother. I love him. And him being scared of me…."

"Hey we understand Danny. You OK brah?"

"Yeah I'm good."

Kono hugs Danny before she and Chin say their goodbyes. Danny looks one last time up to the floor where his friend is lying in the ICU. He swears himself that he will do anything in his power to get his friend his memory back. He just can not lose his best friend, he just can't imagine his life anymore without that big annoyance of a SEAL in his life.

"I'll be back for you McGarrett." He mutters under his breath before he climbs into his car and drives off.

H50 - H50 - H50

_**Poor Danny, can Cath help jog Steve's memory and will Danny be allowed back into the game? Guess you have to stick around to find out.**_

_**As always a little peek into the next chapter:**_

**Chapter 16 - Going through transfer**

Shortly after he is settled in his new room, one with a real window to the outside world, not just a mini hole in the wall like in the ICU, he wakes up again. _Wow I'm really getting the grand tour of this hospital, must be the seventh room I've woke up in._ Steve smiles to himself, because this room is definitely the nicest one. It's more like a VIP suite in a hotel. With a couch and recliner-seat in one corner and a pretty big flat TV on the wall.

"I'm sure it's courtesy of the governor. The room I mean."

At hearing the voice he whips his head around, an action he regrets a second later as searing pain runs through his head. He can only squeeze his eyes shut and ride the nausea and dizziness out, not to mention the pain that threatens to swallow him. Sweat breaks out on his forehead and a groan escapes. He takes some deep breaths as deep as he manages with his broken ribs and opens his eyes to glare at the intruder.

"Who are you? How did you get in here," Steve struggles to get out.


	16. Chapter 16 Going through transfer

_**I know I'm going to repeat myself, but thank you so much for all the reviews, alerts and pm's. You really rock! **_

_**I hope you will enjoy the future chapters.**_

**Chapter 16 - Going through transfer**

The night in the ICU was uneventful, Steve slept undisturbed through the night until around five in the morning. Life in the ICU is not like it is in the rest of the hospital, there is not really a day and night rhythm. Most patients in the unit are so severely sick or injured that they are mostly unresponsive and need twenty-four hour care, no matter what time of day or night it is. Steve is not one of those patients and is only in the ICU for so long a time because of his head injury and the "accidents" he had in the hospital.

Early in the morning Dr. Hope is on his way to validate Steve's progress and to downgrade his status, so that he can be transferred to a private room. One of the nurses was nice enough and got Cath a reclining-chair, so that she was not too uncomfortable during the night.

She is already awake when Mark Hope comes to check on Steve, "Morning Catherine."

"Good morning, is everything all right?"

Dr. Hope is checking Steve's monitors and is about ready to wake him up.

"Don't worry everything is fine he is doing rather well. I like to transfer him to a private room. I just like to do some tests before we move him."

"That sounds great. So he is stable now?"

"He is way better than we would have expected twelve hours ago. So yeah he is doing well but don't get overly excited he still has some way ahead of him. Let's get one step at a time. Now let's see if we can wake him up."

H50 - H50 - H50

Steve feels a hand on his shoulder and someone is talking to him. He finds that rather annoying, he is still so tired. But that voice won't stop and now he even gets lightly shaken. That starts to hurt so he decides to show that he's awake, has been for a while but was just too tired to open his eyes.

"I'm 'wake, go 'way," his voice sounds unused and hoarse.

Ice chips appear in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere. But he doesn't care where they come from he takes them gratefully. They do wonders to his sore throat.

"Steve come on open your eyes please."

He does just that and to bring the faces in front of him into focus doesn't take as long as he feared it would. A smiling Catherine looks down at him and a middle aged man with a mob of blond hair frowns at him, who he knows he saw before but can't quite place where.

"Commander you remember me? I'm Dr. Hope your physician since you arrived here a few days ago."

"I remember now."

"Are you in pain Commander?"

Steve is looking at this Doctor who has way too much hair on his small head, the thought that he looks like a mop makes him smile. He is wondering why he keeps calling him Commander.

"Where am I? You're not military," Steve closes his eyes as a wave of nausea sweeps over him. He knows that this will happen quite often in the next few days he just hopes that he doesn't need to puke every damn time. But he knows seconds later that he definitely will this time.

"Gonna be sick"

Steve's stomach is completely empty so he is reduced to painfully dry heaves. After what seems like forever he lies back panting and coughing. His ribs hurt like hell and it is hard to get enough air into his lungs but after a few minutes he settles down and gets his breathing back under control.

He still lies with his eyes closed when something occurs to him.

"Why. . .do you keep. . .calling me Commander?"

Cath was caressing his forehead while she talked him through the worst waves of pain but now she steps back to let Dr. Hope take over again, "We talk about that when you're settled in a private room, OK? Let me just finish the check up and we will move you out of here."

"Ummmm, 'kay."

"How is the pain level do you need me to up the dosage? Steve how bad is it? Be honest no need for you to suffer."

"My arm is throbbing. . .my belly really hurts. . .can you please. . .take the Foley out. . .it hurts. . . I'm dizzy."

"OK Steve listen I'm going to give you some more narcotics for the transfer to a private room and we will see how much you will need later again. We will do another ultrasound of your lower abdomen in a few hours and then the Foley comes out. I'm a bit worried about the level of pain you're experiencing. The bruised hip shouldn't radiate so much to your belly. I was told that you were kicked quite viciously?"

Steve has some trouble following what Dr. Hope says he is talking way to fast but he thinks he got the gist of it.

"Passed out from it. . .still hurts a bit. . .I think. . .just hurts below my belt. . .can't really say."

"All right Steve I'm going to put you in a more up-sitting position. We need to get your BP up and that won't happen with you lying down. Tell me when the pain gets worse or you feel sick again."

Steve is slowly raised in a more sitting position.

"Arrggh stop." His hip can't take the new position and is starting to hurt even with the upped dosage of pain medication he is on.

"OK, that's enough for now. Can you stay like this or do you need me to lower it a little bit again? Steve are you with us, Steve?"

McGarrett hears the Doctor but he is too busy NOT to throw up again to answer him.

"I think he is sick again. Steve just breathe through it, like we have done countless times, come on you can do it."

Steve is concentrating on Catherine and is able to get past the nausea without puking all over the place, "Hate this!"

"I know you do. Hey it's not your fault, don't you dare go there."

Steve opens his eyes again and is searching for his doctor.

"Where did he go?"

"He's getting a nurse to help you settle into your new room. Do you feel sleepy? I need to talk to you about something."

"A little, I feel a bit loopy."

"He will lower your pain meds again later, then you won't be so doped up. Try to concentrate, OK? Do you remember Danno?"

"He wants to shoot me."

"What? No Steve he doesn't."

"He said 'someday I gonna shoot you', he had a gun on me. 'm tired," he is fading fast.

"Steve he is not gonna shoot you, listen I want you to talk to him. Can you do that?"

"Hmmm, you be. . .there?"

"Yeah I'll be there."

"kay"

Steve goes back to sleep and doesn't even stir while he is transferred into his new private room one floor above the ICU two hours later.

H50 – H50 – H50

Shortly after he is settled in his new room, one with a real window to the outside world, not just a mini hole in the wall like in the ICU, he wakes up again. _Wow I'm really getting the grand tour of this hospital, must be the seventh room I've woke up in._ Steve smiles to himself, because this room is definitely the nicest one. It's more like a VIP suite in a hotel. With a couch and recliner-seat in one corner and a pretty big flat TV on the wall.

"I'm sure it's courtesy of the governor. The room I mean."

At hearing the voice he whips his head around, an action he regrets a second later as searing pain runs through his head. He can only squeeze his eyes shut and ride the nausea and dizziness out, not to mention the pain that threatens to swallow him. Sweat breaks out on his forehead and a groan escapes. He takes some deep breaths as deep as he manages with his broken ribs and opens his eyes to glare at the intruder.

"Who are you? How did you get in here," Steve struggles to get out.

"I have my ways. Don't think you will escape; I will be back for you. Not today but soon. I still need your help you know. And you will give it to me. Think about all your nice friends. Oh wait you don't remember them, do you?"

Steve is trying to reach the call button but he can't find it, the nurse who transferred him into his bed had put it behind him and it is not connected to the system yet.

"Don't scream or I will kill you right now," the intruder is now standing at the foot of his bed and seems very interested in Steve's casted leg.

"Your right side is pretty messed up," with that he lifts Steve's leg which results in an intense pain shooting all the way up to his hip and across his belly. But that is nothing in comparison to the pain that explodes when his leg is dropped back to the bed. It feels like the bone is trying to pierce through the flesh and cast. He wonders for a moment if that is even possible. But his thoughts are cut short by a hand pressing on the right side of his belly. Steve only sees a blinding white light and would scream but a hand is also pressing on his mouth. He is fighting desperately against his attacker with his right arm trying to get the hand away, he can't breathe and is on the verge of passing out.

"I'll be back for you, when you least expect it."

And suddenly he is gone. Steve is left lying there, panting and trying to catch his breath, fighting not to pass out from the fire that is burning all over the right part of his body.

"Arrrgggghhhhh," He just doesn't have enough air to get anything out but a loud groan; not loud enough for anybody to hear him. Finally he gives in to the pain and let the darkness engulf him.

H50 - H50 - H50

_**Damn who was that nasty guy? Any guesses? Whoever he is, he promised to be back, hopefully Steve will be ready for him. ;)**_

_**Thank you again for still being here. And again let's look at the next chapter, which actually is my favorite chapter so far. Guess I shouldn't say something like that, but I really love it. Oh well you can see for yourself soon. Hope you will like it too.**_

**Chapter 17 - Legalized torture**

Catherine and Danny are patiently waiting outside of Steve's room to be allowed in again. Finally a young nurse, who is grinning all over his face, is coming out of the room.

"You are in a good mood. I take it everything is okay in there," Danny can't help but asking the nurse, he finds it rather suspicious that someone who just had contact with McGarrett looks so happy.

"Oh perfectly fine, I wish every patient would be as nice and sweet as Steve."

"Nice and. . .nice and sweet? Is this the right room? You think Steve McGarrett is nice and sweet?"

"Yeah. And he looks real cute too," he is grinning again and leaves them standing there.


	17. Chapter 17 Legalized Torture

_**I know I shouldn't say something like this but this is my favorite chapter so far, so I really hope you like it. Please let me know what you think.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17 - Legalized torture<strong>

Steve wakes up to a very uncomfortable full bladder. But he is aware that the Foley is still in, so he wonders why he needs to pee so urgently. He is also very aware that his leg really hurts and with the pain comes back the memory of the attack. He still has no way to call the nurse he can't reach behind him, where he assumes the call button is. To his relieve the door opens and Dr. Hope and a nurse, who is pushing some kind of equipment into the room, enters.

"Steve good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"I need to pee," Steve tries to keep the desperation out of his voice but is not sure if he is successful.

"I know you do that's why we're here. Remember I told you I like to do an ultrasound before I take the Catheter out?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well for that we needed your bladder to fill up so that we can get a clear picture. I clamped your Foley a few hours ago. I know it's unpleasant but I promise to be quick and then you will get rid of that unwelcome tube."

Steve is sure that he can come up with some words that would describe how his bladder makes him feel. Unpleasant is not one of them. He balls his fists and lets the doctor go about his business, but Steve can't suppress a groan when he presses the head of the ultrasound onto the tender flesh of his belly. Feeling Dr. Hope pressing down on his full bladder is not just uncomfortable it is downright painful. This is torture.

"Ah shit. Stop that."

"Almost done Steve, hang in there one more minute. Everything looks good."

Steve is sure if he weren't stuck with the Foley, he would have wet his bed by now.

"OK Steve we're done. I'm going to unclamp the tube now. Hang in there."

Steve is almost moaning with relieve when he feels his bladder emptying into the attached bag of the Foley.

"I'm going to deflate the balloon now and pull the Foley out, all right? It will hurt a bit, take a deep breath."

He is not really prepared for how much it actually hurts but he grits his teeth and endures it without groaning again. Steve wonders why it always hurts much more when it comes out than when it goes in. _Because you were never conscious when they put one in,_ Steve comes up with the answer to his unspoken question.

"Steve? How you're doing? You hang in there?"

"Yeah. You done? Still feel a little pressure."

"That's normal don't worry about it. That will only last about half an hour. Now listen! If you feel the need to use the bathroom, you need to call right away. You hear? Do not try to hold it. Steve this is important. I'm still worried about your kidneys, OK?"

Steve listens to his doctor but isn't sure why it would be important to relieve himself right away, but is really not that interested to ask about it. So he just nods.

"When can I get up and use the bathroom like a normal human being?"

He hears laughter coming from his doctor and opens his eyes to look at him, "What's so funny?"

"You. You do know that this is the longest conversation you had with anyone since you're in this hospital? Steve this is the first time that you are even capable of coherent talk and I'm actually a bit amazed about it, considering the last hours. But I bet that your head is killing you and that you're really dizzy."

"Wouldn't really. . .call this a two sided. . .conversation. And my leg hurts way more than my head."

Steve lays his head back and closes his eyes again.

"Why is your leg suddenly hurting? Steve did something happen?"

"No. I think I moved it wrong while asleep."

Steve isn't sure why he lies to Dr. Hope, but something is telling him to keep quiet about the attack.

"Okay. I'm going to leave the morphine pump on the higher lever for now. Tomorrow we will talk about taking you off the automatic pump and switching to a PCA and a less strong painkiller, one that won't knock you out so much. Then you will have some more control. But we'll see about that tomorrow. We talk about you getting up when we can get rid of the IV's, that will at least take another day. Besides your leg is not even properly cast yet, it's still in the soft shell until the swelling is completely down. I guess we will cast it tonight, so until then don't even entertain the idea of getting up or using that leg in any other way than just lying around. Don't even lift it, you would really hurt yourself and make it a lot worse. "

Steve hears the pumps beeping which indicates another dosage of pain meds is released into his system. He knows that he won't stay awake for much longer.

"Dr. Hope! Can you please get Cath for me? I need to talk to her."

"She's waiting outside for us to finish up, she will be in shortly. Listen I will leave you now in the hands of Philip. He is responsible for you during his day shift. He will make you a bit more comfortable. I will leave now and see to you again later. Don't fight the drugs Steve, go to sleep, okay?

"Hmmmm. . .I will."

"Good. Philip see what you can do for the Commander."

"Hi Steve look why don't we put some clothes on you. Your friend Catherine brought you some stuff. How about some boxers and sweat pants? Look she already cut off one leg at the knee."

"That were my favorite sweats," Steve says without any real anger.

"Well they will be for at least another 6 weeks," Phillip is grinning at his patient.

"Ha ha."

"Okay let me do the work, you just relax, try not to stiffen your muscles, you will only hurt yourself. When we're done I promise you will feel much more human again."

With that he goes to work and Steve must admit that he really knows what he is doing. Steve is in boxers and sweatpants in no time and with only one or two grunts of pain when he has to lift his hips.

"Oh and look at this, a really big baby blue t-shirt. What is that on it? _Waiola Shave Ice_. Where did you get that?"

Steve looks at the ridiculous big blue shirt, "No idea."

"Well it comes in handy now, doesn't it? Let's get you in it."

That proves a bit more complicated than the pants. First Philip puts Steve's casted arm carefully through the armhole and then he unhooks the IV-line to get his other arm and head in it.

"Great! Now what? You don't want me to. . .sit up, do you? Because if you do, think again."

Steve has his eyes closed again, because the pain in his ribs is really flaring up now with all the activity of his arms. Not to mention that his arm is throbbing.

"Not right away, we'll wait a minute for the drugs to take more effect, than you sit up."

Steve opens his eyes again and looks suspiciously at his nurse, "You're nuts."

"Yeah well, you want me to get it off again? That will probably hurt equally bad. So why not go all the way? Besides aren't you a SEAL? I bet you have some mind trick to shut out the pain."

"Guess so, but doesn't seem to work so well right now."

It takes them another three minutes and more than some grunts of pain to get the t-shirt on Steve but finally it is done. Steve is clad in more or less normal clothes and they are both pretty happy with their accomplishment.

Philip gathers all his equipment and is about to leave when Steve speaks up, "Hey! You're right."

"About?"

"It was worth it, I feel much better. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go to sleep."

With that and a big smile on his youthful face he leaves the hospital room.

H50 – H50 – H50

Catherine and Danny are patiently waiting outside of Steve's room to be allowed in again. Finally a young nurse, who is grinning all over his face, is coming out of the room.

"You are in a good mood. I take it everything is okay in there," Danny can't help but asking the nurse, he finds it rather suspicious that someone who just had contact with McGarrett looks so happy.

"Oh perfectly fine, I wish every patient would be as nice and sweet as Steve."

"Nice and. . .nice and sweet? Is this the right room? You think Steve McGarrett is nice and sweet?"

"Yeah. And he looks real cute too," he is grinning again and leaves them standing there.

They are both looking after him, shaking their heads and open the door to Steve's private room, step in and stop in their tracks. "Well Danny you must admit, this is kind of cute."

"Hmmmmm," Danny only grunts.

On the covers of his bed lies Steve McGarrett. Looking like a little lost boy in his way too big baby blue t-shirt and dark blue sweat pants. Sleeping peacefully with a smile on his lips.

"And there we go again with the advertising." Danny is muttering under his breath, but he can't keep the smile out of his voice.

H50 – H50 – H50

It is about a half hour later that Steve is awoken by a sneeze and some coughing accompanied by a bit of groaning. He realizes that he is the one making all that noise.

"Hey sailor," Catherine goes to his bed as soon as she hears him waking up.

"Urgh. . .," he does some more coughing and another sneeze is shaking him. But the sneezing is not really helping to clear his nose, it only makes it feel more stuffed and intensifies his headache.

"Come on blow your nose," Cath is holding a tissue in front of his nose.

Steve looks at her like she has lost her mind, "I'm not a two year old. I can blow my damn nose alone, thank you very much," he grumbles and regrets his words instantly, "I'm sorry Cath. I just hate this so much. I'm sorry."

"Hey it's okay, don't worry. It's fine. I know you're in pain, you feel like shit, you're dizzy and probably nauseas again, so I think it's okay for you to be a little grumpy," she smiles at him still holding the tissue in front of his nose.

He smiles back at her and does blow his nose with her help. They are both grinning like idiots at each other.

_Must be an inside-joke_, Danny thinks because he can't see for the life of him what there is to smile about. He still hasn't made his presence known and likes to keep it that way a little longer. So he stays in the far corner on the couch.

"Steve how is your head? You really scared us the last few days," Cath is now sitting next to his bed and again grabs his hand in hers.

"Sorry 'bout that." Steve closes his eyes for a moment. As he moves his head to keep Cath in view a hot piercing pain in the back of his head assaults him. Makes him slightly sick. His breath quickens as he tries to breathe through the pain that now shoots to his forehead as if someone wants to break his skull from the inside.

"Steve you okay?"

"Hmmmmmm, give me a. . .minute."

Cath can see the pain lines and knows that he is in severe pain at the moment. She tries to lighten his suffering and gently touches his forehead.

"Arggggh, don't touch," he presses out between pants of breaths.

Thankfully it only takes a minute for the headache to reach bearable levels again.

"You feel better?"

"Hmmm yeah," Steve still lies with his eyes closed and Catherine is wondering if he is going back to sleep when he suddenly looks at her again.

"Steve listen do you remember that we talked about Danno?"

"Yeah. The guy who wants to kill me. Cath you need to call. . .NCIS for me, maybe he. . .is behind it. Where is he?"

"Steve what are you talking about? Behind what?"

"I was attacked."

"We know, you were taken from home and. . ."

"NO! This morning. . .in this room. . .guy came in. . .hurt my leg. . .hit my. . .belly."

When Steve cries out that he was attacked in his hospital room Danny rushes to his side. But he is not expecting the reaction that his action causes in the injured man.

Steve sees someone rushing towards him and instantly panics and cries out, "NO! Please don't…hurt me again. Please don't. . .Cath no. . .please keep. . .him away. . .Arrrggghhh."

Steve knows that something is wrong with his behavior but he can't stop it. He is terrified, he knows that it is not the man he is so scared of but he is the reason for him to have a full blown panic attack none the less. He starts to hyperventilate and can't catch his breath. It feels like his heart is jumping out of his chest he can't hear or see a thing only the rushing of his own blood and dozens of violent pictures that are assaulting his brain. The pain in his head is finally sending him into unconsciousness.

"Oh my god, what was that," Danny is looking at Catherine. He is shocked about what he just witnessed. When it happened it seemed like his friend was not even in the same room with them, his eyes were void of any emotion but raw fear.

"He had a panic attack. He hasn't had one in a long time."

"What? He had that before?"

"Years ago after he came back from being a. . .," Cath suddenly stops when she realizes what she is about to reveal.

"I can't tell you Danny. I'm sorry, it's classified."

"You're giving me that shit now? While Steve just practically peed his pants in fear of me," Danny is having a very hard time not to scream.

"He was not scared of YOU, you were only the trigger. You rushing towards him. Danny it is not you that he is scared of, he is probably something associating with. . .whatever the problem is. Maybe your voice or something."

"Should I leave?"

"No. . .don't. . .leave. . .I'm. . .okay. . .Danny," Steve is trying to look at the two people in the room, but his vision is blurry and out of focus, "Please. . .stop. . .moving."

"Steve it's okay, just keep breathing you will feel better in a minute. Are you sick?"

"No. My head. . .hurts really bad. . .and my leg."

"Do you want me to call Dr. Hope? To give you something more for the pain?"

"No not him. . .pump will beep. . .any minute now."

And it does. A new dose of powerful pain medication is released into Steve's IV. Danny and Cath can see the change in Steve instantly, the pain lines smooth out and his breathing calms down. After another minute Steve opens his eyes sleepily again, "What happened?"

"You freaked out," Danny blurts out which earns him an evil glare from Catherine.

"No. I know I had. . .panic attack," Steve is wheezing and his breathing is getting faster.

"Steve take a few deep breaths," Cath is trying to calm him.

"Can't. . .it hurts."

"Steve look at me, breathe with me."

After a minute he finds back to his own breathing rhythm and is calm enough to talk again, "I mean. . .why I'm in here."

"You don't remember?"

"No Danny I don't. So please. . .tell me."

"You know me?"

"Huh?"

"You remember me?"

"What are you. . .talking about? Sure I remember. . .you."

The smile that breaks out on Danny's face threatens to split his face.

"Will you please. . .tell me what happened," Steve's voice is low and he is looking at them with almost pleading eyes.

"Tell us what you last remember. Steve you okay?"

They can practically see how Steve's color changes to a ghostly white. "I'm sick," he swallows convulsively and starts to cough, but he manages to not throw up, "I hate the pain meds."

"Hate to tell you babe but you kind of need them."

"Yeah well they. . .are not doing. . .so much for. . .the pain. . .in my head and. . .they make me sick."

"Steve the concussion makes you sick not the meds."

"Whatever."

Danny smiles down at him, at least this is the McGarrett he knows. The other guy that occupied his body the last few days was a stranger to him. He is not sure if part of that other guy is still in there, but he takes what he can get. "Steve tell us what you last remember."

"Right. Was home. . .Cath cooked. . .fish and rice and some spicy sauce. . .wasn't feeling so great…think fell asleep. . .halfway through _Blood Diamond. . ._great film," Steve looks at Danny but doesn't really see him, he is trying to remember details of that night.

"Woke up around midnight. . .was sick. . .sorry Cath. . .fish went down the toilet. . ."

So much for waking up Cath if he was sick, Danny thinks for a second.

"Didn't wanna wake you. . .felt better right away. . .went right back to sleep. . .woke up again at 3:30. . .felt really warm and thirsty. . .went down into the kitchen. . .and. . ."

"You remember anything after that?"

"Not sure. . .was fighting with a guy. . .think broke his nose and knee. . .hurt my arm. . .other guy tased me."

Danny and Cath are looking at each other, that is new information to them.

"Anything else?"

"m'tired. . .head hurts." They can see that he has trouble staying awake.

"Steve you can go to sleep in a minute, tell us what happened this morning, who attacked you?"

"Hmmmm?. . .got to go. . .call Philip."

"What?"

"Doc said. . .not to. . .," Steve is getting a bit restless and so Cath presses the call button for the nurse. It takes only a minute for Philip to arrive.

"Will you please wait outside for a minute?" Danny and Catherine reluctantly leave.

"We'll be right outside."

"Yeah that's fine it will only take a few minutes."

Philip waits for them to leave before he addresses the Commander.

"Steve? You need to pee or is it something else?"

"Pee."

"OK, listen this is the first time after the Foley is out, it might smart some, OK. Don't be alarmed it's normal and it will get better next time. You ready?"

"Yeah."

Philip is helping Steve taking care of business without actually touching him and he comforts him when Steve hisses in pain. Philip remembered how uncomfortable Steve looked when Dr. Hope touched him, so he tries to give him some independence, "Next time won't hurt so much. Soon you're allowed to do it all alone. You okay?"

"Yeah thanks."

"Hey that's what I'm here for. Anything else I can do for you? Need anything?"

"I think I'm kind of hungry. Don't know. . .if I can. . .keep it down. . .but. . ."

"That's great, I talk to Dr. Hope and get you something. Now try to rest some more. I'll be back soon."

Steve closes his eyes and is asleep in a second.

H50 - H50 - H50

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><p><strong><em>If you like to see Steve in the big blue t-shirt you just have to watch the pilot of Hawaii Five-0 again. :)<em>**

_**Thanks for reading, hope you went through the chapter of torturing poor Steve without any lingering effects. Some medical procedures are just mean and should really be called what they are, legalized torture.**_

_**Today I won't give you a sneak into the next chapter, because that one really got to me and I think it is very intense so you should read it in one piece. It gives you a view into Steve's mind like we never saw before. Something that will follow us for a while longer during the course of this story. Something that came back to the surface and that Steve needs to deal with.**_

_**I just realized that this is even more evil than my Sneak Peeks. :)**_


	18. Chapter 18 Flashback

_**My apologies that this is a really short chapter, but I feel it is so intense that I think it should stand alone. Next will be a long one.**_

**Chapter 18 - Flashback**

Danny sits at the side of Steve's bed and watches his friend, who fell asleep half an hour ago, after he managed to eat some chicken soup. Well with no real chicken in it and Steve said it tasted like hot water. So far he kept it down and Danny is hopeful that Steve doesn't get sick again. He saw his friend puke often enough now, which will definitely last him a lifetime.

While he is watching Steve sleep he wonders what trauma his friend went through during his life in the Navy. He is worried that his latest violent capture was one too many. Considering the panic attack he had to witness, he is not so sure that Steve will recover as easily as Cath thinks he will. That scene scared him deeply. On the other hand she knows him for a long time and went through a lot with him. He is still amazed how she is handling Steve and how strong their relationship seems to be. That thought brings him to his own wife, ex-wife, who left him because she couldn't handle the danger he was in at times. And his danger level was nothing compared to Steve's.

"Sleeping with your eyes open again?"

Danny is startled out of his thoughts by the low voice of Steve, who is now looking at him with cloudy blue eyes.

"Yeah well you know me, besides we can't all lie in bed and sleep the day away," Danny smiles at his friend.

Steve is looking at his partner for a long minute before he speaks again.

"You sound a lot like him," his voice is barely above a whisper and Danny needs to strain a bit to hear him.

"Like whom Steve, I sound like who?"

Steve closes his eyes again for a minute and Danny starts to think that he went back to sleep when he opens them and starts to speak in a slightly stronger voice but still low and soft, not like his normal deep voice. He sounds very vulnerable and Danny knows that he will learn something important in the next minutes and dares not to say anything.

"We were six and on our way back when we were ambushed. We were outnumbered and there was a wild firefight. We did our best but we didn't have a chance. I got hit."

Steve subconsciously touches his right side, just where his belt would be.

"Just below my vest. No exit wound. I went down and couldn't really see what was going on. Suddenly I was dragged across the dusty ground and shoved into a jeep. My team survived with some minor injuries but I was captured."

"They threw me in a room with nothing in it, it was just a really hot and dusty room with a barred window. You know, it gets really hot in the desert and really cold at night. They left me alone for a few hours. When they came back the first time they had baseball bats and just started hitting me, they screamed something I didn't understand."

At this point Steve has his eyes closed and his breathing gets faster.

"They hit me everywhere, I couldn't stop the scream when they hit my gunshot wound. After that they left me alone again. They came back later and one of them told me that I was a murderer and that I needed to be punished. They rolled me on my back and held me down; injected me with something . They had. . .bats again. . .they only hit. . .my upper thighs and my. . .belly. I couldn't stop screaming. They were really careful. . .not to break any bones. . .just to get. . .the maximum pain."

Danny isn't sure what to do, he wants to know the rest of it, but he doesn't want his friend to suffer through it again. He grabs Steve's right hand and is glad that he doesn't recoil from him but hangs on to it like it is a lifeline.

"I couldn't move. . .my legs and my belly. . .I just couldn't. . .I had a fever. . .I developed an infection. . .even the lightest touch. . .on my belly. . .and I screamed. . .still don't like to. . .be touched below my belt. . .not even by Cath. . .they kept screaming and hitting and kicking me for days."

"They had me at. . .a point where. . .I screamed before they touched me. . .and then they were gone. . .just like that. . .left me there to die. . .I would have. . .but my team never stopped looking. . . .five days after the ambush. . .they. . .found me. . .few days later I was. . .Stateside. . .but I guess I was in shock. . .every time someone. . .touched me. . .I screamed my head off. . .they kept me. . . under sedation for two weeks. . .and then the flashbacks started. . .it was really scary." A lone tear rolls down Steve's cheek and Danny is at a complete loss at what to do. He just keeps holding Steve's hand to let him know that he is still there.

"After a few weeks. . .when the pain, the fever and the infection. . .was almost gone. . .they stopped. . .never had a panic attack again. . .until now. Danny my belly really hurt and then you were coming at me. . .and I. . .I had a flashback. . .I'm sorry."

"Steve please don't be. Don't be sorry. I wish I could tell you something to make you feel better, I wish I was not the cause for so much additional pain. Steve I would never hurt you."

"I know. Please don't tell anyone about this."

"No never, I promise. This is just between you and me. Thank you for telling me."

"I don't want you to think that I'm scared of you. It's just that my head is a scary place some times."

"Figured that out a while ago my friend," Danny replies with a smile.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"Steve? I'm so sorry that we didn't find you sooner in the jungle, that you almost died out there."

"Jungle? Danny what jungle? I was in the jungle?"

H50 - H50 - H50

_**For anyone who thinks that Steve would not be this 'weak' and have a breakdown like a flashback or other symptoms of PTSD, well even the strongest mind does have a breaking point. And remember he does have a head injury and still a low grade fever. But his 'mental problems' will be addressed and yes you will meet Steve's therapist. And no Danny is not paying for the sessions. :)**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are willing to follow Steve on his journey back to health, not just his physical health. And we still need to catch some bad guys, and for everyone who is starting to miss SEAL-Steve, don't worry, he will be back soon.**_

_**Now on with the Sneak for the next one:**_

**Chapter 19 – Let's talk**

"Danny where is Catherine, I'm surprised not to see her at his side," Kono has been wondering about that since they came to the hospital.

"She went to the base, the Admiral called her in. She's trying to get some personal time off. She's on leave for the next three weeks anyway, but she hopes to get more. She'll be back later, hopefully with some more information. She'll try to persuade the Admiral to give her something more on the op Steve was supposed to do."

"Good luck with that," a cranky voice comes from the bed.

"Hey look who's gracing us with his presence again," when hearing their friend's voice they all get up and gather around Steve's bed.


	19. Chapter 19 Let's talk

_**You guys make me giggle with joy whenever I open my email. You are so awesome. Thank you so much for the great reviews.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 19 – Let's Talk<strong>

Steve is exhausted, mentally and physically, but sleep won't come. He is lying awake on his bed and listening to the low beeping of his heart monitor. Some of the monitors he got rid of when he was transferred to this private room but the heart monitor and some other stuff stayed. He is down to just one bag on his IV-pole and hopefully he will get a PCA later on, so that he will be able to decide when to sleep and when to stay alert. But he knows that he still needs the strong meds since his various injuries remind him of their presence whenever the level of his medication gets low, just before the pump releases another dosage. Earlier he debated to tell his Doctor or Catherine that the intervals between the releases of the drug are slightly too long, but he did not, so now he just have to live with it.

He can't quite grasp the idea that it is was almost four days ago that he was snatched from home and has spent the last three days sleeping away in the hospital. He has no real recollection of the last few days and has just been awake and alert for twelve hours. Well that is debatable as Danny calls it, Steve chuckles when he thinks about what his friend said about his mental state. He knows that he freaked his partner totally out with his panic attack. _Well you're not the only one._

His thoughts go to JoJo; he needs to call her soon. A call he is somewhat dreading when he thinks about the ramifications of this latest hospital stay. When he next sees JoJo, she might insist on another psych evaluation if he wants to stay in the Navy. And he does, he is not willing to give that up even if he has found a great thing with Five-0, but he is not willing to give up his Navy Career yet. He is quite happy with the arrangement he has at the moment. He can manage his Five-0 duties and the time he needs to give the Navy for being in the Reserves just fine. Of course, it will get difficult if he starts to volunteer to do more for them like he just did with this deal, something they cannot demand from him if he won't offer it. He only did that for his team, for Gracie, and he will do it again if need be. That brings him to Danny.

After he talked to him, he fell asleep and is now waiting for Danny's return. He promised to come back with Chin and Kono to tell him what they found out about what happened. He is not keen to have the conversation that needs to happen, not looking forward to Danny's anger about his secrecy. He's sure that Danny is going to explode, but is holding it in because of his injuries. But he just knows that it won't be much longer until a rant will come his way.

He still needs to tell them about the attack this morning and what he remembers about his kidnapping, at least he remembers now about his trip through the jungle, well parts of it. To think about Danny's face when he told him a short while ago that he had no idea what jungle he was talking about makes him smile. But only until he thinks about the deal he made and the Intel his NI buddies gathered for him on Wo Fat. Just thinking about all the stuff he needs to talk about with them makes his head hurt. He closes his eyes for a minute and tries to will the pain away which just came on. The pain that assaults him every few hours with a debilitating intensity is always accompanied by nausea and dizziness; thankfully it lasts only for a few minutes again and then recedes back to the constant throbbing that he is experiencing all day. Makes it hard to follow a conversation and to focus. He knows that this will last a few more days before the intense pain will abate some and will only happen occasionally.

When he tries to get a bit more comfortable he moves his leg which results in a spike of pain, so he just stays where he is and endures the ache that is building in his lower back. He knows that the leg will be much better as soon it is in a proper cast, then he won't be able to accidentally move his ankle. Doctor Hope promised to take him to x-ray later on and put a real cast on it. He really can't wait for that, because it means that he will be able to get up and use the bathroom on his own. _If you don't fall flat on your face while trying._ That thought brings a smile on his face, it reminds him of the first time he stood up last time his leg was broken. That was not very graceful. But he intends to not repeat that disaster. He shifts again a little, the pain in his back is getting very uncomfortable, which reminds him that his pain meds are overdue. Just as he is to press the call button he hears the telltale beeping of the pump. He hates to be on meds but he is grateful for the relieve they bring anyway.

He lays his head back and waits for the drugs to do their work. He feels the pain in his back go first then his arm quietens down, his leg is the last to go, and only leaves a throbbing that reminds him that there still is a broken limp attached below his knee. Of course the drugs are not doing that much for his head, which still throbs mercilessly and will not stop. Thankfully the pain from the bruise on his hip is not as bad anymore, but the ache in his belly is still as strong as in the beginning, but he starts to think that it is more in his head than in his actual belly.

He is just about to finally drift off when the door opens and reveals his team peeking into the room. "Come on in, I'm awake."

"Boss you look almost alive again," Kono is beaming at him and giving him a peek on the cheek.

"Feel like it too," he grins back.

"Hey Steve you do look better brah."

"Thanks Chin."

"Hey babe, did we wake you?"

"No was just dozing and thinking."

"Oh don't hurt yourself."

"Very funny Danny. Seriously though, I want to thank you all. For coming after me and saving my life. Thank you."

"Yeah well you know us, always coming after you when you run off. . ."

"Hey I didn't run off, at least I don't think I did. Did I?"

"No Boss was not your fault. Danny is just kidding. You don't remember anything?"

"Not much. Danny told me I couldn't remember you guys for a while. I'm sorry 'bout that but actually I don't remember not remembering you or remembering Danny differently. . .I mean. . . you know what I mean. Sorry I can't. . .I think my head. . .is not working straight yet. . .don't say anything Danny!"

"Nothing comes to mind."

"Steve you up for this? I mean twelve hours ago you were barely conscious and now you seem almost fine, but are you," Chin looks at his friend with worry in his eyes.

Steve looks at his team and is debating what to tell them, to make them understand, "No I'm not _fine_. I'm hurting, my head is killing me, and I have trouble thinking, it's sometimes. . .difficult to form coherent words. . .just now I couldn't come up with 'difficult'. When you talk to me, please don't raise your voice and don't talk too fast; or I can't follow the conversation, but I'll let you know. My head will take a few more days to hurt less and to feel a bit clearer. I'm not firing on all cylinders just yet. The other injuries are more an annoyance than a danger." He takes a break to catch his breath and ride a bout of nausea out.

"You OK," Danny is stepping up to his side.

"Feel sick. Need a minute." He tries to take deep breaths but a coughing fit interrupts his breathing exercise and lets the bile rise into his throat, from there it only takes another second for him to throw up. Danny sees it coming and has the basin ready for him, supporting his head while he loses what little he has in his stomach. Chin steps back to give him some privacy and Kono goes into the bathroom and gets a washcloth and some water. Both she gives to Danny before she joins Chin on the couch.

It takes another minute before the dry heaves stop and Steve lays back, eyes tightly clenched shut, out of breath, and holding his aching ribs, which are wildly protesting against the activity they were just subjected to. Danny helps him clean his face and rinse his mouth, before he takes the utensils back into the bathroom.

When he comes back Steve still doesn't move, "Steve? You feel better?"

"Hmmmm."

"You need another minute?"

"Hmmmm. . .head hurts badly."

"We'll just wait for you to feel better, okay? Go to sleep for a while, we'll wait for you."

"No we need. . ."

"No! You need to rest, now try to sleep some."

"Hmmm, 'kay."

It doesn't take more than two seconds for him to go to sleep.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Danny where is Catherine, I'm surprised not to see her at his side," Kono has been wondering about that since they came to the hospital.

"She went to the base, the Admiral called her in. She's trying to get some personal time off. She's on leave for the next three weeks anyway, but she hopes to get more. She'll be back later, hopefully with some more information. She'll try to persuade the Admiral to give her something more on the op Steve was supposed to do."

"Good luck with that," a cranky voice comes from the bed.

"Hey look who's gracing us with his presence again," when hearing their friend's voice they all get up and gather around Steve's bed.

"Sorry 'bout earlier."

"Nah boss don't worry, we're just glad you're better now. Are you?"

"Yeah feel a little better. No danger of puking on you in the next minutes," he grins at them, "Listen we need to get started, they will get me later. . .for x-rays and to cast my leg, so where do you wanna start?"

"Friday night". . ."Deal". . ."Attack" They are all talking at the same time.

"I think we should start with Friday night, it leads all together, and my deal and the attack are connected to me going missing on Saturday."

"Okay, start there."

"Can you please all get to the left side of me, I can't turn my head back and forth, makes me dizzy."

Steve turns a bit onto his left side, not without some wincing, which gets noticed by Danny, "Hey, you in pain?"

"Pump is due in a few minutes. I'll be fine."

The little turn to his left aggravates the pain in his leg to a new level and he desperately awaits the beeping that indicates relief from it. Thankfully he only needs to wait a few more moments.

"Your leg is really bad, isn't it," Danny is for the first time inspecting the cast on the leg and can see now that it isn't really a cast but a softly bolstered splint held in place by bandages.

"Why isn't your leg in a cast? Did you bump it into the bedrail with only that thing on?" Danny can only imagine how much it must hurt to bump the broken leg and ankle into anything without a hard cast on it for protection.

"Yeah I think I did. I'm not really clear on what happened; only remember incredible pain and then nothing. It's not casted yet because it was pretty badly swollen, but now they can cast it. I'm getting a fiberglass one, like on my arm, later today and then I can get up."

"Wow what are you dreaming of?"

"No really Chin, when the cast is on, I can try to get up. As I tried to tell you earlier, only my head is preventing me from being up now. The arm and the leg will only be annoying in a few days, but they won't hurt that much, at least not if I don't bump into anything with it. The pain I can handle, it's my head I can't."

Steve's speech pattern is slower than usual, a bystander would not notice, but his friends do.

"Okay, Steve let's start with Friday. You told us that you remember falling asleep on the couch because you weren't feeling well, later you were up shortly and then at 3:30 you went down to the kitchen."

"Yeah that sounds about right. I don't remember anything out of the ordinary that night. Never saw or sensed anyone, they must be really good at what they do."

"They are. We saw the video footage."

"You did," Steve knows what is coming now. And he is not disappointed.

"When were you going to tell me about the security system? And you put a security detail on Grace. On my daughter Steven! You put Naval Intelligence on my daughter! You had them followed for three weeks, three weeks Steven!"

Steve winces and closes his eyes when Danny's voice reaches a level he is sure they can hear one floor below, "Argh, Danny please."

When Danny sees Steve's hand go to his head in a desperate attempt to quell the pain and sees his tightly closed eyes, he realizes that he just put his friend in some serious pain. "Steve I'm sorry, you okay," he practically whispers.

"Please stop. . .screaming. . ."

Steve is trying to breathe through the agony that runs through his head, but every time he opens his eyes he is assaulted by a new wave of debilitating pain, "Can. . .you. . .please dim. . .the light?"

Danny is mortified about what he has done. Steve told them not to raise their voices, but what did he do, he screamed at him. Successfully sending him into a world of hurt. He reaches for the light switch and turns the light off; now only the sun of the late afternoon bathes the room into its soft light.

"Thank. . .you."

"Steve I'm so sorry, anything we can do?"

"No. . .just be. . .quiet. . .please."

"Okay," Danny looks at his two teammates who are just shaking their heads at him. He mouths a "sorry" to them.

It takes a few minutes for Steve to regain some form of composure again, the pain is still hammering away in his head but he is at least able to open his eyes again, "Danny I know. . .you're mad at me. . .but please don't. . .do that again."

"Steve I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I promise I won't raise my voice again. I'm so sorry. You feel better?"

"Yeah somewhat, can you get me some ice-chips please? My throat hurts."

"Sure, be right back." Danny leaves in search for some ice from the nurse station.

"Chin please don't let. . .him scream again. . .he is killing me here."

"Steve we're sorry, we should have intervened, but he is really mad, well not really mad, he is more worried about Grace than mad at you."

"I know," Steve closes his eyes again, he knows that he made a big mistake in not telling Danny about the security system. He looks at Danny when he comes back with his ice, "Danny I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have."

"Yeah, you should have. Here take some ice you sound hoarse."

"Thanks."

"Now why didn't you tell me and why did you put a security detail on all of us, even on yourself. Your Admiral told us you had a 'funny feeling'. Really Steve? A funny feeling? Is that a SEAL thing?"

"I can't explain it really. I have no evidence, whatsoever, that there ever was a threat to Gracie's life. Please believe me Danny, I would have told you right away if I had any knowledge of a thread. I swear."

Steve gets agitated and needs to calm down before he can continue.

"Steve calm down, I know you would never keep something like that from me. But I still don't understand why you didn't tell me, and how you kept Rachel and Stan from telling me."

"Rachel doesn't know. And Stan, well let's just say I can be very persuasive when I need to be," Steve gets interrupted again by some more coughing, but he thinks his cold is a lot better than it was in the morning, at least he doesn't feel warm anymore.

"You need some more ice?"

"Nah, I'm good. Danny I really wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell all of you. I felt like I was lying to you, I felt awful about it. But Admiral Davies made a pretty good case why I shouldn't tell. And he made it easy for me, he simply ordered me not to. I cannot just disobey an order."

"You told Cath."

"Yes Kono I did tell her about Grace. I needed someone in the know, in case something happened to me. And she is Navy, so. . ."

"What, she can be trusted and we can't," Danny was getting louder again.

"No! That's not what. . .I mean." Steve lays his head back, he is getting frustrated. The speed they are going they will never come to the attack in the hospital, hell they won't even leave the day of the kidnapping. He needs to get this along, he is getting tired and the pain in his leg is flaring up again. "Listen, can we put this behind us for now? We can talk about it later, it's really not that important right now, why I didn't tell or did tell someone. I can't keep up much longer, please let's move on."

"Steve's right, this is getting us nowhere, let's focus on the important stuff. Steve do you remember anything after you were taken? We don't have a lot of information on your kidnappers. Your Admiral won't give us much, I think 'classified' is his most favorite word." Chin smiles at his former Training Officer's son, who is now his boss, who he is eternally grateful for, he will be forever in his debt for taking him back into the Force. He tries to show him that he has no hard feelings for not being told about the security detail, that he understands his motives.

"Yeah well 'classified' is drilled into us," Steve smiles back at Chin: message understood.

"I remember being on a boat, I think I had some kind of an episode there, that's when I realized that my head injury must be really serious, I couldn't call up any training I had, and I completely lost it."

"Yeah you did, we saw that. Steve do you remember anything that we didn't see?"

"I was in a helicopter and we landed somewhere, but really just for a minute, I think someone left the chopper, I'm not sure, at that point my head hurt so bad from the noise of the chopper that I was not really conscious. Then we were shot down. It was utter chaos. The crashing down was so. . .so incredibly hard. . .I passed out after that."

"We saw the site Steve; it's unbelievable that you got away from that," Kono is still amazed that she can talk to her friend and not attend his funeral.

"Steve why did you leave the crash site?"

Steve looks at his friends and can see that they are very curious to know the reason for him to leave. If he hadn't done that he would at least not have a broken leg and ankle. His concussion would not be as bad and he would be much better in general, not even to mention the stress his decision brought his friends and Catherine. "I don't really know. I couldn't really think. I just knew I had to get away. I think I was in shock. I don't know Chin."

"I think we can skip the whole jungle part."

"Easy for you to say."

"What do you mean Steve? I don't think anything happened there that would tell us anything about your kidnappers or why you were taken."

"No it won't," he forces himself not to say more, he needs to talk about what's going through his head about his time in the jungle with JoJo. But later not now.

"Did you identify the bodies," Steve asks while he shifts on the bed to get more comfortable, but he can't seem to get away from the pain in his lower back or his leg, which is throbbing almost as bad as his head. He can't suppress the cry of pain when his leg slips from the pillow and hits the bed.

"Steve stop moving, let us help you. You wanna go back onto your back? Kono can you grab the second pillow?"

Danny is now at Steve's right side helping him shift onto his back. He holds his leg up carefully, mindful not to touch the ankle on the outside where the breaks of the tibia and the ankle are. Kono puts the second pillow under his knee and Danny carefully lowers the broken limp onto the two pillows.

Steve lays his head back with a groan, the pain radiating from his leg is getting worse with every passing second and he knows that his next dosage of drugs is a long time away, too long for him.

"Can. . .you please. . .get. . .Dr. Hope. . .I think. . .the bone shifted. . .," Steve seems only seconds from passing out.

Chin left in search of his doctor the second Steve cried out in pain, he knew instantly that something was wrong. He and Dr. Hope come back just as Steve cries out again.

"What happened here?"

Steve is not responding to the question, he still lays with his eyes tightly clenched shut and just tries to breathe, so Danny answers for him, "He said he felt the bone shift when his leg slipped from the pillow, when he moved it."

"Damn. Steve I'm going to take you to x-ray now. From one to ten how bad is the pain?"

"Fifteen," Steve almost screams into the doctor's face who is now leaning over him.

"Listen I'm going to put you out now, okay? When you wake up again you will be casted and in no pain anymore. Just relax Steve," with that he changes the setting of the IV-pump and another high dose of powerful pain meds is released immediately into his system, which gets an instant reaction from Steve. His erratic breathing calms down and his head lolls to the side, the pain-lines from just seconds ago smooth out and it is clear that he is completely knocked out.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Poor Steve he just can't catch a break. Ups - seems like he did just that literally. LOL<strong>_

_**And again here comes a little sneak peek into the next chapter.**_

**Chapter 20 – Confessions**

_I wish_, he thinks, while going in search for the call button, but before he can use it the door opens and Catherine comes in.

When seeing him being awake she drops her things on the couch table and goes over to his bed.

"Hey there, how you're doing," she takes his hand, bents down and gently kisses him. When she pulls away, Steve grabs her hand.

"That's all I get," he grins at her and demands more of the same.

"Oh you think you're up for more," she smiles right back.

"No, but I want it anyway," with that he pulls her down again.

Of course Cath gladly obeys and soon they are deepening the kiss until Steve can't suppress a groan escaping. Cath pulls away and looks worriedly at him.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, gotta go," he regretfully whispers.


	20. Chapter 20 Confessions

_**Thank you all for still sticking around. Hope you will enjoy that Steve is now much more awake and we can finally go somewhere with the investigation. **_

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><p><strong>Chapter 20 - Confessions<strong>

When Mark Hope enters the room he finds the Five-0's just as he expected he would.

"Dr. Hope how is Steve? Is everything all right," Danny is the first to speak.

"He's fine and will be up shortly. He just gets his control x-ray and then he will be back. We had to set the bone but that went without a hitch."

"So it shifted when he moved," Kono can't believe that one can break a leg in bed. She's never heard of that.

"As I told you it was already partially broken, his stress fracture is slightly different from normal stress fractures, they normally happen over a long period of time with many micro fractures of the bone which eventually will result in the break. But Steve's was over a very short amount of time, just a few hours, due to very heavy stress on the bone. So he suffered a partial break without micro fractures. The bone was way easier to break, but I'm still amazed that it happened this easy. You sure there wasn't another incident? Steve complained about his leg this morning. But he said nothing happened."

After hearing that Steve obviously didn't tell his Doctor about the attack, they decide not to tell either.

"Not that we know of. When will he be back and will he still be in so much pain?"

"No! He will be fine. It will only hurt a bit more than the normal throbbing he will experience for another few days, when he puts weight on it, but that will be okay for him to do in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours."

"So he is right, he really can get up?"

"Only to use the bathroom Chin, not to run around. But he can't do that anyway with his concussion, but yes he will be able to get up. But that is not what we need to talk about. I heard from my nurses that they heard loud yelling in here. Is that true, did one of you yell at Steve?"

"Yes it is, I lost my temper, I'm sorry."

"Did his headache spike?"

"Yes, we had to turn off the lights, it was really bad. But Danny is really sorry and he didn't mean to hurt him," Kono feels the need to defend her friend; she knows how terrible Danny feels about what he did to Steve.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to. All of you listen very carefully to me. I don't think you see the severity of Steve's injury, I can understand that, he seems relatively fine. But let me assure you he is not. This is not some TV show where the hero gets clobbered, stands up and walks away. That is not how it happens in real life. This is Steve's _third_ serious head injury. It's not as bad as the previous ones but head injuries are a funny thing, they are cumulative, that basically means that the head remembers that it was concussed before and it is easier to happen again. Thankfully Commander McGarrett has a very hard head so he will be okay eventually. But he is already suffering from post concussive syndrome. That means dizzy spells, nausea, vomiting for a couple of weeks and a constant headache with bursts of very intense pain for even longer. BUT any additional stress like loud noises, yelling, strenuous activity or overtiring in the next two weeks during his initial healing process, can make those symptoms last for months or even permanently. And in Steve's case there will be almost nothing we can do to ease them. So _please_ do act accordingly. I know you need to work with him and that is okay, and good for him it can jog his memory. But work at his pace, if you see he gets tired or his headache gets worse encourage him to rest."

Dr. Hope is looking at the three officers and is still not sure if they get it.

"Look, I know you see Steve as the tough SEAL, but forget about that for the next two weeks. See him as what he is at the moment: a very hurt young man who is in dire need of some serious TLC. You will get your tough as nails SuperSEAL back, but he needs your help to get there."

Finally he sees some recognition on their faces and is pretty sure that he got the massage to them.

"Okay, Steve will be back any minute now. He will be a bit groggy from the anesthesia, but that will fade quickly. Give him a few minutes and he will be fine."

And he was right. Steve is brought back with a new cast on his leg from just short of his toes to under his knee. In the same blue as his arm cast. His leg and arm are propped up with pillows and Steve seems peacefully asleep. A stark contrast to an hour ago when he was writhing in agony.

Doctor Hope leaves them alone with the warning to remember his words.

Danny is stepping up to his bed after the nurse rearranged the IV lines, takes Steve's slack hand and talks to him in a low voice, "Steve I promise you I will keep my word I will never hurt you like that again. Please forgive me for my stupidity. I'm sorry."

"Danny you are so lucky he is asleep, you would never hear the end of it," Chin is grinning despite the seriousness of Danny's words.

"Yeah I know, but I mean it, I can't tell you how sorry I am."

"We know you are. Come on let's get some coffee before we go to work, Catherine should be back soon and Steve will be awake. So we will finally get some work done and hopefully get to the bottom of this." Kono leads the way out of the room to get to their new favorite coffee shop: the cafeteria of the hospital. Of all the places who would believe that they have the best coffee.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve awakes to an empty darkened room, just a small lamp in the corner next to the couch is turned on. Only the very low beeping sound of the heart monitor is interrupting the quiet. _Need to get rid of that thing_, he thinks while gingerly touching his temple where the pain is still throbbing away. He feels a little fuzzy but knows that it is from the anesthesia and will abate in a short while. He looks down at his leg and his happy to see that it is finally put in a fiberglass cast ready for walking on it. Of course he knows that they won't let him try it before tomorrow, which means that he finally can stop peeing while lying down in bed by tomorrow. Not being able to use the bathroom is for him the worst part of staying in a hospital. He considers peeing while lying down legal torture. Speaking of torture reminds him that he needs to go. _I wish_, he thinks, while going in search for the call button, but before he can use it the door opens and Catherine comes in.

When seeing him being awake she drops her things on the couch table and goes over to his bed.

"Hey there, how you're doing," she takes his hand, bents down and gently kisses him. When she pulls away, Steve grabs her hand.

"That's all I get," he grins at her and demands more of the same.

"Oh you think you're up for more," she smiles right back.

"No, but I want it anyway," with that he pulls her down again.

Of course Cath gladly obeys and soon they are deepening the kiss until Steve can't suppress a groan escaping. Cath pulls away and looks worriedly at him.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, gotta go," he regretfully whispers.

"OH! You need help? Stupid question, sorry, is it in the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

Seconds later she is back with the hated urinal in hand, "Is it okay if I help you, or you want me to call someone?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Better you than 'Stephanie', Philip's not here tonight."

"Oh you don't like 'Stephanie'? Bet she is a nice twenty five year old who would just love to get her hands on you."

"Yeah that's the problem; I don't like her touching me," he looks so pathetic that she's almost laughing out loud at the sight of him but remembers that there is a reason that he doesn't like to be touched.

"Okay let's go to business before you burst," Cath is very efficient and they are done in no time and for the first time since being in the hospital it was not awkward or uncomfortable for Steve.

"Don't pour it away, they need to measure it. Just call Stephanie, she can do the rest," his grin can be called pure evil.

Just seconds after she presses the call button, 'Stephanie' flies into the room, to be stopped short by a smiling Catherine who is handing over Steve's 'output'.

"Oh you are here. Thank you but that is my job," she almost snaps at Cath.

"Yeah well since he belongs to me, it really is kind of my job, but you're welcome to measure it for us, I'm sure you're good with that," she sweetly smiles at Stephanie.

The nurse throws a poignant look at Steve, who is very tempted to roll his eyes, and flies out of the room.

"You know I might need her tonight, but hey don't hold back on my account."

"That 'woman' was eating you up with her eyes!"

"Oh possessive much?"

"You have no idea. So where were we," Cath was back at his side and gently kisses the bruise on his forehead.

"Where were you all day? I missed you."

"You did, huh?"

"Yeah I did. Cath I'm sorry for what you went through. I know this is not easy and I want you to know what it means to me that you're here for me," he pauses for a few seconds, looks at her and adds a very soft, "I love you."

She looks at him for a few seconds, almost speechless about this declaration, something they never did before.

"Wow now I know you're on the good stuff. I thought we don't say those words? "

"Yeah well I thought I like to change the rules some."

"Well in that case Commander, I love you too," she has a big smile on her face when she bents down again and the kiss that follows is not just one of pure love but also a promise for what is to come as soon as Steve will be up to it.

"Hey you two, get a room!"

The team is back and Danny of course can't help himself.

"We already have a room, but it seems to get a bit crowded," Steve counters, not just a little out of breath.

"Seems that you feel better boss," Kono can't keep the grin out of her voice.

"I do actually. Leg doesn't hurt much, the rest is fine," he smiles at her to show that he really is a lot better.

Danny steps up to his left, puts his hand on his shoulder and is about to apologize again when Steve interrupts him, "Danny don't, okay? I know how sorry you are. It's okay, don't beat yourself up, I feel much better now. Let's just move on."

"What happened, what did you do Danny?"

"Nothing." Steve tries to end the conversation before they are going that way again and losing more precious time.

"I yelled at him and caused a severe headache, it was really bad and I feel awful about it," Danny confesses to Steve's friend.

"Oh I see," she bents down to Steve and kisses his forehead again, "Is your headache still bad?"

"No, it's a lot better. Can we please move on now?"

"Danny, Steve's fine, now let's not talk about it anymore, before I come up with some choice words for you," there is no anger or malice in her voice but Danny can see the worry in her eyes when she looks at Steve.

"Cath we brought coffee, Steve you up for some," Chin is trying to get the topic away from that episode earlier.

"No I don't think so, but can you get me some water, please?"

"Oh wait Chin, we should let Stephanie do that job, after all isn't that what she just told us," she is obviously still angry at her.

"Cath!" Steve shakes his head at her, but regrets the movement seconds later, when he needs to close his eyes while he is assaulted by a dizzy spell.

"I'm good, just dizzy. Chin don't listen to Cath, can you please get me some water?"

"On my way."

Steve opens his eyes again to look into three worried faces but just ignores it, "What time is it? It's Tuesday, right?"

"Yeah it is, it's almost eight now. Why?"

"Just wondering how much evidence you could have processed by now. We crashed on Saturday that means you had almost three full days."

"No, we didn't," Danny interrupts him.

"Sunday, Monday and today, I mean I'm not all here yet but that are three days."

"We didn't do anything on Sunday and not much on Monday."

"Why?"

"Do you have any idea how bad your condition was when you were brought here? Your heart stopped, you were completely unresponsive, and we thought you would die. We spent almost every minute here at your side, but were still not here when you needed us the most. We didn't work, does that make us bad cops? Maybe, but there was not much to do anyway, the Navy took over the crash site and your buddy the Admiral is not talking much."

When Danny starts talking Steve closes his eyes, Danny's voice is low but he is still talking a mile a minute and Steve is only able to process half of it, if even that. He opens his eyes and looks at his friend.

"You didn't get any of what I just said, did you?"

"No not much, only that you didn't work. You have to slow down if you want me to follow."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, was it something important?"

"Was it. . .was it important? YES it was important, everything. . ."

"DANNY, slow down, I can't. . .you give me a headache. . .not literally. . .you know what I mean…just slow down. . .okay?"

Chin is back with some bottled water, "You want it in a cup?"

"No the bottle is easier, less spilling."

"OK, here you go," he gives Steve the water and addresses Cath, "Did you get any information from the Admiral?"

"Yes I did, lots of information actually. They identified the bodies in the helicopter, and they found a set of prints without a body."

"That must be the guy who got off when we landed."

"Steve, you landed before the crash," that was news to Catherine.

"Yeah not for long but I think some guys got off the chopper."

"That would mean that you might still be in danger. Was the guy who attacked you this morning one of them?"

"No. At least I don't think so. I think I saw him before but I just can't place him. Sorry."

"Before we talk about the evidence, tell us about the attack. Should we increase the security detail on you?"

"You have a man in front of my door? Since when?"

"Since you're in the hospital. I mean you might not know it but someone kidnapped the Head of the Governor's Task Force, that is something we don't take lightly, of course it helps that we really like the guy. So yes there's HPD all over this place and your Navy guys I'm sure are also crawling around here somewhere."

"Oh."

"Yeah oh. So about the assault this morning, what do you remember?"

"I woke up and he was already in the room. Quick question: how did he get past the security," there was no answer coming from his friends so he continues, "He said that he would come back for me, not today but soon, that he needed my help, and he knew that I couldn't remember you, how did he know that? He threatened you if I wouldn't help him. He lifted my leg. . .and let it drop back. . .it hurt like hell. . .I'm sure it broke then. . .he pressed on. . .my belly and I almost. . .passed out. . .I tried to fight him. . .but I couldn't breathe. . .and then he was gone. Next thing I know Dr. Hope is in the room to torture me with his ultrasound."

"Did you know the guy? Was he one of your kidnappers?"

"No. . .I don't know. . .I know that I saw him before. . .I just don't know. . .I can't remember from where or when. . .I'm trying. . .it's there. . .but I just can't get it."

"Steve calm down. You need a minute? You feel okay," Danny remembers Dr. Hope's word to watch him carefully.

"I'm cold and a bit dizzy."

Kono grabs a blanket and helps Catherine cover Steve with it.

"Does that feel better? Steve you want to sleep for a while," Cath is checking his forehead, he feels warm to the touch.

"No, just give. . .me a minute. . .my head just. . .," Steve's eyes are tightly closed again as he tries to take slow breaths.

Dr. Hope enters just then, carrying a bag for Steve's IV, which he hangs on the pole and attaches to the IV-line.

"What is that for," Cath is curious, since she's so happy that he's already down to just one bag.

"In a minute let me just check him over. Can you all give us some privacy please and step back a bit?"

He checks Steve's vitals and listens to his lungs, checks both casts and his bruises, but is very careful not to press on them. With the changing of color, they slowly stop hurting when left alone, but are still very tender to the touch. All the while Steve tries to breathe through the pain that is creating havoc in his head, it takes longer than before to abate, but when Dr. Hope is done with his exam he is able to open his eyes and he is again left with the constant throbbing behind his forehead.

"So what's the verdict, Doc?"

"Well I must say I'm pretty amazed with your progress. I would bet a lot of money if you didn't have a concussion you would already be back on your feet. Your bruises are healing nicely, your broken ribs had a few days to heal already and I'm sure they also feel a lot better."

"Yeah they do, still hurts to take a deep breath though."

"Yeah I bet. Be careful with them, don't try to get into sitting up on your own."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Would get dizzy anyway. I'm not up to that today. Don't worry I'm not trying to do anything stupid," Steve always wonders why people think that he would try something that he is not ready for.

"Your temp is slightly up and your lungs are a little congested, I'm going to give you something to make you cough some more, I know it will hurt a bit, but we need to get rid of the stuff in your lungs. You got a pretty nasty cold. But I'm sure that will be fine, don't worry about it. But we need to do something for your kidneys. With all your vomiting, you run the risk of dehydration, that's why you still have the IV on full blast so to speak. But your output is too low we need to encourage your kidneys to be a bit more productive. Hopefully that bag will do that. And you need to try to drink more; before you go to sleep tonight you need to empty those bottles you have there. I'm sorry but you will wake up for bathroom breaks a few times tonight."

When hearing that Steve glances with a little panic in his eyes at Cath.

"I'm going to stay the night," she whispers to him.

"I would normally put a Foley back in for the night, while the medication is working, but when you ripped the one out on Sunday, you hurt yourself a little and you're still a bit bruised from the kick, so I really want to spare you that. I think you can manage without it. I'm going to get you something for your cold and then you should be set for tonight. You all should leave in about an hour when the meds are going to start to work. Steve will not spend a restful night and I'm sure he doesn't want to share that with all of you. Come back in the morning and he will be much better, I'm even going to allow him to get up."

A minute after he left he is back with a syringe and he injects its content into Steve's IV, "Steve I switched the control of the pump to you. Now you can release the drug when you need it. You will need more of it when you start coughing later tonight. Use it. Don't worry you can't overdose and I changed it to a none narcotic drug, so it won't knock you out so much."

With that he finally leaves for the night.

"OK guys you heard the doc, we have about an hour, let's use it. Steve? You were talking about your attacker. Steve?"

Steve is staring at nothing, he got a really far away gaze, like he is not even seeing what's in the room, he is obviously somewhere else.

"Steve?"

"I know him," he suddenly says when he is back with them.

"Who?" Chin asks his leader.

"Dr. Hope."

"Yeah sure you know him, he is treating you for the last four days," Danny slowly and calmly tells him; he is worried that Steve is not really clear and that the 'work' gets too much for him.

"No that's not what I mean. I know him from somewhere else. I saw his picture."

"Where did you see his picture Steve, maybe in the newspaper, he seems to know Jameson, maybe you saw a picture of them at a function or something?"

"No. Was something else," Steve closes his eyes and tries to get a better grip on what is so near to the surface of his memory but still so far away.

"Don't try to think too much about it, I'm sure it will come to you," Danny doesn't like where this is going, Dr. Hope's words about his injury really rattled him, especially since he added to it. He just doesn't want to see his friend suffer anymore.

"No it's important."

"Steve do you have one of your 'feelings' about him? Is that why you didn't tell him about the attack," Catherine knows that he doesn't like to talk about his 'funny feelings', but she thinks it's something that makes him good at his job. His intuition is always right, even if he is sometimes wary about it, because it is nothing one could explain, but he learned to listen to it anyway and uses it to his advantage.

His partners are looking quizzically at Cath. She only gives a soundless "later" and concentrates again on Steve.

"Steve?"

"It was a black and white picture with two other men on it. One is only seen from behind the other is way taller than Dr. Hope and the third man. I can't see his face it's not clear, I know that the picture was perfectly clear but I can't. . .the photo was one of a bunch of pictures. . .the tall guy is in a lot of them. . .I can't see his face. . .Dr. Hope is only in one of them. As is the third man. There is a sign on the picture. A tag and a date, I. . .it's a surveillance picture, I took it. It's from 2009, it was in Japan. I was. . .I can't tell you what I was doing there. . .sorry it's classified," he grins at them.

"That's not funny Steve."

"No Danny it's not, but I get court-martialed if I tell you, or I have to kill you, I don't want to do either. I was in Japan to gather Intel for an op that was taking place a week after the picture was taken. I can't tell you anything about it. Dr. Hope was declared just an innocent bystander, there were no connections to the other men. None that we could find. We should look again."

Steve is suddenly almost overwhelmed by a fire burning deep in his lower back, but the burst of pain only lasts a few second, but still long enough to leave him breathless, "I don't think I can keep up for much longer. Check Dr. Hope, check his background, he went to med school in Japan on a scholarship. . .Argh, fuck my back. . .," he is grabbing his right side at his back and is groaning loudly.

"Steve press the button!"

"What?"

"The pump! You have the control. Don't you remember? He told you to use it. Where is it," Cath is looking for the control button that will activate the pump and release his pain meds, after she finds it, she presses it immediately, the beep of the device can be heard right away.

"Is it getting better?"

"Yeah. . .thanks. . .I forgot."

"I think we should stop, hour is up anyway. Let's meet tomorrow morning. Maybe you can get some information on Dr. Hope. Tomorrow we can compare notes about what I got from Admiral Davies."

Steve is no longer listening to the conversation, the pain in his back is receding but the pressure in his belly is already building and he only wants his friends to leave so he can be alone with Cath and suffer in peace. He laughs out load at the idea of 'suffering in peace', maybe it should be a song-title; or the story of his life in this damn hospital.

Four pairs of eyes are looking strangely at Steve who lies on his bed under a warm blanket eyes in obvious discomfort tightly closed, but still laughing softly.

"Cath is right it's _definitely_ time for us to leave," Danny ushers everyone out the door, "see you tomorrow, take care of him please."

"I will, try to rest some, you look awful."

Cath shuts the door and goes back to the bed where her 'boyfriend'_, that sounds so wrong, Steve is definitely no boy_, she thinks to herself, still lies with his eyes closed.

"Hey you ready for the activities of the night?"

"As ready as I ever will be."

Cath sits down next to him grabs his hand and settles in for a long night.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading.<strong>_

_**The sneak peek today is not dramatic, but kind of sweet, hope you will enjoy it none the less. :)**_

**Chapter 21 – Getting into it**

Cath bents down to him, kisses his forehead and whispers sweet nonsense into his ear. Makes him smile but doesn't really help with the pain, but he enjoys the attention none the less. That is something that he does enjoy when he is sick, he gets really touchy-feely and it always amazes him how much he changes when he is not feeling well. It is then that he most craves the touch and care of others, it's those times that he is open and in touch with his emotions, as Cath is calling it. He knows that he can be very closed off and not showing his true feelings, but that is just his military training, it's not really him. Cath always says that he is a big softy. _Don't let that your SEAL buddies hear, you never hear the end of it._ It's hard enough that he already thinks that his 'civilian' life made him soft in the last month's, no need to add a women's opinion, since we all know that they are always right. Well at least most of the time, some of the times. Yeah right. _Better don't go there_, with that he opens his eyes again and looks into four very worried looking faces.

"What?"


	21. Chapter 21 Getting into it

_**Thanks again to everyone who is commenting or just plain reading. You really make we very happy. Enjoy the first of two chapters I'm going to post today.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 21 – Getting into it<strong>

The sight that greets the three Five-0 members upon entering Steve's hospital room let them drop their bags and whip out their cellphones almost simultaneously. In seconds they snatch a dozen pictures before smiling at each other and grabbing their bags from the floor.

In front of them on the bed are lying Steve and Cath, both on their left sides. She is hugging him protectively at the waist and he holds her securely in place with his casted arm, while his right one lies loosely on his chest. His head rests comfortably on her shoulder while her hand lies gently on his forehead. He is halfway turned on his back and is using her body effectively as a pillow, while his left leg is slightly bent and his outstretched broken limb is comfortably resting on the now folded blanket. They are both fast asleep.

"Let's not wake them, they look exhausted, come on we go and grab some breakfast," Chin suggests.

"Yeah but they look so cute," Kono is still smiling from ear to ear.

"I think those pictures are excellent blackmail material, if we use them right," Danny is grinning now but is glad that his friend is getting some real rest. They look exhausted, but really happy and relaxed.

All the whispering is waking Steve as he listens to their hushed conversation. They can't seem to make up their mind over leaving or staying. "Could you decide sometime today if you're staying or not? If you don't stay I like to go back to sleep," he tells them without opening his eyes.

Danny is coming to his side of the bed and sits down in the chair still there from last night. "Sorry didn't mean to wake you," he whispers.

"Can you give us another half hour? We had a pretty rough night," Steve whispers back with still closed eyes.

"Sure all the time you need. You want some breakfast from downstairs, some coffee or something?"

"Not sure if I can handle anything, but yeah can you bring us both something?"

Steve still hasn't moved one bit and Danny is almost sure that he is asleep again when he hears him again.

"Danny? Can you press the button for the PCA please, I think it's behind Cath, I can't reach it."

Now it's clear why he doesn't move. Seconds later Danny gets the device to beep and his friend is falling back asleep.

H50 – H50 – H50

When they come back from their breakfast, Philip is just leaving the room.

"Everything all right?"

"Oh perfectly fine, just freshened up a bit and got ready for the day. You can go right in. Is that for Steve," he indicates the container Danny is carrying.

"Yeah for both of them."

"Only some toast and scrambled eggs for Steve this morning, no bacon or anything else. He can have coffee if he thinks he can handle it."

"Okay, but he isn't even sure if he can eat anything."

"Encourage him to eat, he needs to. Maybe later you can get him some of his favorite foods, something he might keep down? Nothing to heavy but ask him what he would like."

"What, we don't need to smuggle any food in for him?"

"No not with Steve, he's a special case. Never had one who was so prone to nausea and vomiting, we need to get him to eat something, would help if he likes what he eats, don't you think? But don't tell anyone, it's our secret, okay," Philip winks at him and is gone.

"He is a weird one," Danny looks after him.

"Yeah but he is really nice, met his wife yesterday, cute girl," Kono smiles when she thinks about the girl she met yesterday.

"His wife? He's married?"

"No Danny not you too, just because he is really sweet and nice and loves to be a nurse, doesn't mean anything."

"Hey I didn't mean anything by it, I don't care either way, you know that."

"Yeah I know, but you just thought inside a box, you categorized, and we shouldn't do that."

"You're right, never thought about it that way."

They finally make it into the room where they see Steve almost sitting upright in his bed, head on the pillow and eyes closed. He is wearing a fresh t-shirt and new sweat pants and looks clean-shaven, his hair is still sticking in all directions though. Makes him look rather cute and very young. Cath is nowhere to be seen. But they can hear the shower being turned off in the bathroom.

Danny is taking the breakfast out of the bag and puts the container on the tray next to Steve's bed.

"Steve you like some coffee," Danny asks his friend who still has to open his eyes.

"No."

When Steve's still not looking, Danny gets suspicious, "Hey you dizzy, sitting up so high?"

"Room's spinning."

"You want me to lower the bed?"

"No. Need to. . .get used. . .to it. . .for later. . .feel sick. . .please just leave me alone for a minute."

Just then Cath steps out of the bathroom, "Do I smell coffee and breakfast? You are the best. I'm starving. Thank you Danny you're a lifesaver." Before she digs into her breakfast, she goes to Steve and whispers something in his ear whereupon he smiles and shakes his head lightly but does not open his eyes.

Chin is setting up the equipment they brought with them and soon the hospital room looks like a mini version of the Five-0 HQ. He even connects the flat screen TV to the computer, so that Steve can easily see everything from his bed, that is if he decides to open his eyes at some point.

Catherine devours her breakfast, something she never does, but today she wastes no time with it.

"Wow I guess you really were starving," Kono smiles at her.

"Yeah sorry about that," she looks over at Steve and sees with worry that he still hasn't opened his eyes. He is still lying on the bed, rather pale with eyes tightly closed. Reason enough for her to check on him again. She lays her hand on his chest and gently caresses his forehead, smoothing his hair back is a lost cause, but she does it anyway and tenderly kisses him.

"Maybe we should lower your bed a bit, it will make you feel better," she softly whispers to him, knowing full well that he will fight her, since he desperately wants to get up today. The more surprised is she when he agrees to it.

"I lower it just a little bit and we try again later, Steve I'm sure you will manage to get up today. Don't worry, okay? Tell me if you don't feel better soon and we go down even further. Steve do you feel sick," Cath is still whispering very close to his head.

Danny, Chin and Kono can see that Cath is handling Steve with great care and that they interact with each other very closely with no barriers between them. They can see that they are completely comfortable with each other, something that only happens after years of great intimacy. They almost feel like intruders watching this interplay.

"Just a little sick, my head hurts, the light is really bright," Steve is not raising his voice and is still not opening his eyes, which shows Cath that he really is feeling badly.

"Kono can you please close the blinds a bit?"

Cath is still caressing his forehead, always careful not to touch his bruise which is now an impressive purple with edges of yellow which indicates that it is healing, when he finally looks at her.

"Do you think you can handle some breakfast? Steve you need to eat something. Danny brought you some scrambled eggs and toast. It's probably cold by now, but will you please try," Cath is coaxing him to at least try to eat something.

"What for? Will only throw up anyway." Steve is more than reluctant to eat anything, he knows that his delicate stomach won't be able to handle food any time soon. But for Cath he at least tries to eat a little bit, and he must admit the eggs are not bad. But of course they only stay down for a few minutes.

"Told you so," Steve tells Cath after he pukes on her, it happened so fast that she had no time to get out of the way. "Sorry 'bout that," he gets out interrupted by coughing, which really picked up since last night. He already used the PCA twice this morning since the coughing leaves his ribs screaming at him to stop abusing them.

Philip is back cleaning him up, thankfully the bed did not get soiled, but he needs another t-shirt. A painful process which leaves him breathless and using the pump a third time in just two hours. He is not even sure how often it will release the drugs, since overdosing is not possible. But something good comes out of it, Philip has raised the bed again without Steve even noticing and so he is now sitting up in bed, in new clothes, in some pain but not dizzy and ready for 'action'.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Sir have you decided when to get Commander McGarrett?"

"We will give him another day, Jefferson. As far as my contact told me he was not even out of bed yet. We wait until he can at least stand on his two feet again."

"But Sir that can take quite some time," Commander Jefferson is getting impatient and wants to get to McGarrett rather earlier than later.

"No he will be up and around shortly. You see as soon as his head clears a bit more he will be hopping around. And then we grab him."

"Will your contact stay in line, Sir?"

"Yes I made it very clear that we will not take kindly to any more interference with our operation. There will be no more incidents at the hospital."

"Sir the tampering with the computer system and the elevator put us at risk, Sir. If they find anything in their investigation, I know that Five-0 is looking into that."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Eliminate the contact, Sir. I could do it right away."

"No, not yet. It might come handy again."

"Yes Sir as you wish. Do you think McGarrett will give you the information you want?"

"I have no doubt."

H50 – H50 – H50

"Steve does any of those names sound familiar to you or any of the pictures," Danny is slowly flipping through the seven pictures of the dead men from the helicopter crash.

The bodies were all identified and their records are in front of Steve. They all had a military background of some kind. Every single one of them discharged from various branches of the armed forces. Three of them with honor the rest not so much.

"No, I'm pretty sure that I never saw any of them," Steve is putting the file folder with the names and records back on the tray in front of him, the lines of words are blurring into each other and trying to read gives him a major headache.

"The Navy won't give us any information of any ties to any groups or any other information on them. Without Cath we wouldn't even have their names," Danny sounds very frustrated, "How the hell do they expect us to solve your kidnapping and protect you if they won't give us anything?"

"They don't," is Steve's short answer.

"What?"

"They don't expect you to solve anything and they certainly don't want you interfering with their affairs," Steve is now grinning at him, knowing full well what to expect next.

"Oh they don't, don't they? Well then they don't know me at all yet, but they will, I can tell you that right now."

Danny keeps ranting some more but Steve is shutting him out since he can't follow his talking anyway and something just occurred to him.

"Didn't you say something about prints without bodies?"

"Why do I even care to talk if you're not listening, can you please tell me that Steven?"

"Yes Danny I could, but I doubt I'm up for another of your more lengthy colorful rants, which I'm sure would follow."

"Colorful. You think my rants are colorful?"

"Yes Danny, very. You make up words as you go, some don't even make sense," Steve is smiling now at him with the most innocent smile he can muster. When he looks up he can see that the other occupants of the room are smiling right back at him.

"What?"

"It's good to hear you two banter, boss. We were so worried not to hear that again," Kono's smile lights up the room. Even Danny is grinning back at him like an idiot.

"You seem to feel a lot better."

"Yeah actually I do Chin, though my head is still hammering away and trying to read was a really dumb idea, but yeah I feel a bit better," Steve realizes that he really does feel better, his head is way clearer, for the first time he doesn't feel like he is walking through a dense fog. Now only his memory needs to clear up some more and he needs the damn orchestra in his head to stop playing. Of course he knows that he will have to listen to that uncoordinated extremely loud music for weeks to come. That thought brings a huge damper to his mood and the friends can instantly see the change.

"Hey what's the matter," Cath is right at his side.

"Nothing, just thinking about the next few weeks and that I won't get rid of the hammering in my head. It really hurts and is pretty distracting. Makes me sick when the pain rises every couple hours for a few minutes," just to underline his words his headache increases in intensity and leaves him with tightly closed eyes and slightly out of breath.

Cath bents down to him, kisses his forehead and whispers sweet nonsense into his ear. Makes him smile but doesn't really help with the pain, but he enjoys the attention none the less. That is something that he does enjoy when he is sick, he gets really touchy-feely and it always amazes him how much he changes when he is not feeling well. It is then that he most craves the touch and care of others, it's those times that he is open and in touch with his emotions, as Cath is calling it. He knows that he can be very closed off and not showing his true feelings, but that is just his military training, it's not really him. Cath always says that he is a big softy. Don't let that your SEAL buddies hear, you never hear the end of it. It's hard enough that he already thinks that his 'civilian' life made him soft in the last month's, no need to add a woman's opinion, since we all know that they are always right. Well at least most of the time, some of the times. Yeah right. _Better don't go there_, with that he opens his eyes again and looks into four very worried looking faces.

"What?"

"You just completely zoned out, we were talking to you, but you weren't here," Danny is the first to speak.

"Oh, sorry, was just thinking, I'm fine," Steve tries to reassure them, "now about those other prints."

"Right, they found two sets of prints. One belongs to Commander Donald Jefferson, you already had the pleasure on the yacht with him."

"Oh yeah, remember him vividly," Steve almost shudders at the thought of him and subconsciously pulls his good leg protectively up a bit. He finds his own reaction a bit disturbing, "and the second one?"

"We didn't get a file on him, only a name, Captain Webster Brown", Chin is reading the information.

"What!"

"You know the name?"

"That's not possible. It can't be. I need my phone."

"What? What do you need your phone for? Steve who is Brown," Danny is talking while he is looking for Steve's phone, which he brought in earlier, but he is not sure where he put it, he finally hands it over to Steve.

It only takes a few seconds to get a connection.

"David? Get a secure line, call me back ASAP please," with that he disconnects the line, but it only takes another few seconds before the phone rings again.

"McGarrett," he answers even though he knows who is on the other end, old habits die hard.

His friends are looking questioningly at each other, no one seems to have a clue as to what is just happening, they are listening with rapt attention to the one sided conversation.

"David I need your help. The Navy found prints of Webster Brown in a downed helicopter, that was shot down three days ago. Listen can you please get me all the information that we gathered on him. My team can't get it from the Navy through official channels, but we need it. He seems to have a new organization behind him, with huge funding, I'm going to send you a list and I'd appreciate any Intel you can get us on those people as well. No I'm not at HQ I'm in the hospital, no I'll be fine nothing serious," that gets a collective snort from the others.

"Thank you David."

"Steve who was that?"

"Lieutenant Davies, an old friend of mine. He is in NI since he can't be in the field anymore. Chin can you send him the list of names of the dead bodies," he gives Chin his phone so that he can use it to get in contact with Davies.

"He the Admirals son?"

"How do you know that?"

"Admiral told us what happened, that you saved his life."

"Yeah after I crashed the chopper. He never fully recovered from his leg injury, he is an analyst now. He will get us any information we need," Steve lays his head back, all the talking tired him out, his head hurts worse than just minutes ago and he has trouble concentrating, he knows that he should rest, but he at least needs to inform his team about Brown before he can sleep for a while.

"Steve you need to take a break," Danny is not willing to risk Steve's health for anything again.

"In a few minutes, first let's talk about Brown."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know Brown?"

Steve looks at them and is debating what to tell them, debating what he _can_ tell them.

"He was killed during an operation."

"You sure about that, how do you know" Danny is questioning Steve's statement.

"Yes I'm sure because I killed him. The man I shot was dead, is dead. It was either not Brown or this is not him."

"What happened, when did this happen?"

"I can't tell you exactly where or when, but it was about two years ago, we had the assignment to take out a terrorist cell. We confirmed the given Intel, got in, did the job, got out."

"Take out. . .means. . ."

"Arrest if possible otherwise kill everyone and vanish into the night, yes it means that," Steve confirms in a low voice. It was his job but he takes no pleasure in killing people. Never did.

"Captain Webster Brown is a highly decorated Officer who lost it during an assignment, went totally nuts, got us almost killed, endangered the whole team and the mission. He was charged and ready to be court-martialed but the charges were dropped when he agreed to be discharged with honor on medical disability. He went off the radar after that, we heard from him when he blew up a military installation, can't tell you exactly what," Steve's speech is getting slower and he has trouble forming coherent words, "I'm sorry. . .I can't. . .I feel sick."

They can see that he is fading fast and needs to rest.

"Steve go to sleep we can talk later. We will try to get some more information on Dr. Hope and Chin has a lead on the computer incident in the ICU. We will follow up on that and we talk when you wake up again."

Cath is again next to him, making sure that he is comfortably settled, "Steve you want me to lower the bed?"

"Hmmm, yeah. . .think so. . .'m dizzy."

"You talked way too much, you need to take it easy," she settles him into a more reclined position and after seeing that he shivers a bit covers him with the blanket again, "go to sleep, we'll be here when you wake up."

But he doesn't hear that anymore since he already drifted off.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>So do you think Steve is ready to get out of bed now? Yeah I think so too and that's why he's going to do that later today. Yes you will get two chapters in one day. :)<strong>_

_**Here is the little sneak peek into it.**_

**Chapter 22 - Finally Back**

"Will it be further investigated, or are we the only ones looking into it?"

"No there is a homicide investigation going and NCIS is also crawling the space."

"Homicide and NCIS," Danny wants to now.

"One of the patients died during that hour. They are looking into it to see if the shutdown of the system might have been a factor in his death. And NCIS is here because of Steve. Talked to one of the Agents, seems a capable man. I think we don't need to look further into that, they will handle it and inform us. Seems that they play nice in the sandbox."

"That'll be a first," Cath is always a bit wary concerning Navy investigations, they don't like to share information.


	22. Chapter 22 Finally back

_**As promised the second chapter for today. Hope you will enjoy it. **_

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><p><strong>Chapter 22 - Finally Back<strong>

"Chin did you get anything on the computer glitch in the ICU," Danny is still suspicious about all the "accidents" that happened around Steve since he is in the hospital.

"Yes I talked to the crime technician, he said that a subprogram was installed that overrode the live data. Something like that takes skills, the ICU-Net is not some simple network which you can just easily hack into."

"Could it be an outside job?"

"No Kono, it was definitely an inside job. The ICU system is not online, there is no way to get a remote access, it had to be done directly in ICU at one of the terminals. But that does not mean that Steve was the target. There are potential other targets, some high profile business people are here and there is always the possibility that it was just a job of some crazy person without any target at all."

"Will it be further investigated, or are we the only ones looking into it?"

"No there is a homicide investigation going and NCIS is also crawling the space."

"Homicide and NCIS," Danny wants to now.

"One of the patients died during that hour. They are looking into it to see if the shutdown of the system might have been a factor in his death. And NCIS is here because of Steve. I talked to one of the Agents, seems a capable man. I think we don't need to look further into that, they will handle it and inform us. Seems that they play nice in the sandbox."

"That'll be a first," Cath is always a bit wary concerning Navy investigations, they don't like to share information.

"Yeah well it seems that they, like us, don't take kindly to threads against their officers. I trust that Agent to do a thorough job and keeping us in the loop," Chin says with conviction.

"He made an impression on you?"

"Yeah Kono he did, his first concern was Steve's welfare and I got the impression that he wants to help us. So yeah he made an impression."

"OK, Chin I trust your instincts. What about the elevator, was that just an accident," Danny still sees his friend lying in the elevator out of his mind from the pain he had to endure.

"Well that is hard to tell. The whole hospital was remodeled just recently, but the elevators are scheduled to be replaced next week, the wiring and the cabins are not up to standard any more. So it could be an accident. Some of the cables were fried, at the moment there is no way to know for sure."

"What about the two technicians, anything on them?"

"After Danny 'talked' to them, he also made sure that there will be disciplinary actions against them. They didn't follow protocol and neglected safety procedures. Looks like they will lose their jobs."

"They deserve a lot more than that, they endangered Steve, he could have died in there," Danny is still outraged at them.

"Yes he could have, that is why there is also a disciplinary hearing about Dr. Lynn, she endangered him by disconnecting him from his meds. The hearing will be later today. But as far as I heard it will be made clear that the fallout was not her fault. I guess she'll get away with a slap on the wrist."

Steve is listening to his friends talking without letting them know that he is awake. He doesn't feel like taking an active part in the conversation, he is still tired and his head isn't any better yet, so he lies just there and is content at the moment with just listening. He only remembers bits and pieces about the time in the elevator, he only remembers the pain and hitting the bedrail with his arm. And he remembers Danny swinging an ax, that thought makes him chuckle, which of course let the others know that he is awake.

"Hey you're eavesdropping again," Danny calls out to him.

Steve brings his bed in a higher position so he can look at his team much more easily, "Just the last minute or so. How long was I out?"

"Not even thirty minutes," Cath comes over to his bed and lays her hand on his forehead again, when she tugged him in a half hour ago he felt warm, now she can feel that he still does. "You're feeling okay? You're a bit warm, we should check your temperature."

"No I'm fine it's just the cold," just to give more weight to his words he sneezes and coughs as if on cue. "What did you learn about Dr. Hope?"

Chin again is giving out the information, "Dr. Mark Hope, born here in Honolulu in June 1963, attended med school on a scholarship in Japan from 1985 for 4 years. Completed his education in Tokyo, San Francisco and here in Hawaii. Got his current job 5 years ago. Has a great reputation as a neurosurgeon, there is no black spot on his vest I could find."

"What kind of scholarship did he have? I can't remember much about his file," Steve wants to know.

"Nakamura Foundation, they give scholarships to US kids with roots to Japan. The catch is they need to stay after they are finished with school for 5 years at the Nakamura Clinic in Tokyo."

"Who is Nakamura?"

"Danny I couldn't find any information, besides the info on their web site, on them yet. But I'm just looking into it for a few minutes."

"I know the name," Steve is trying to concentrate on the name; on the sound of it, he just can't remember where he heard it before.

"You know him, where from?"

"I can't remember, I don't know. . .I just. . .I think I know him. What roots does Dr. Hope have to Japan, he is not Japanese."

"No he isn't, as far as I know he doesn't have any direct roots to Japan, but his mother married a business man from Japan after Mark's Dad was killed in an accident when he was ten years old."

"What's his name?"

"Akira Hazegawa, very successful businesses running here in Hawaii and in Japan."

"Why did Dr. Hope need a scholarship if his step dad is loaded," Kono is asking the obvious.

"Don't know maybe they are not close, he is his step dad, or maybe he didn't want his money, can be all kind of reasons. Just because Daddy is loaded doesn't mean kids can't make it on their own. Who knows what reasons he had."

"Does the step dad have any connections to Nakamura," Steve is getting restless and is shifting on the bed, he pressed the call button a few minutes ago and is now getting a little impatient.

Just when Chin is going to answer, Philip is coming into the room, "Steve you called, everything okay?"

"Yeah fine, I like to get up."

"Oh OK, can you give us some room please, you can stay but please don't try to help, at least not until I tell you exactly what to do," with that he is at Steve's side, disconnects the IV line and helps him sit up. That goes not without a grunt of pain from the ribs which are not keen on the new position his body is now in. "You dizzy?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Good, now we're going to turn you so that your legs are hanging over the edge of the bed. Be prepared your leg will start to hurt immediately when the blood flow increases into the limb. You ready?"

Philip carefully takes the right leg while Steve moves his left one on his own, seconds later he sits on the edge of the bed, holding his arm and trying to get prepared for the pain which he knows will start any second. And he is not disappointed. His arm starts to throb a lot more since it is not elevated anymore, but he's really not prepared for the pain in his leg. He can't suppress the groan from escaping and tightly shuts his eyes in an attempt to get through the first waves of pain. He knows from experience that it will get worse when he starts to put weight on his leg.

"Steve you okay? Can we go on, or do you want to try again later? It's okay if you can't do it today. Steve answer me. If you don't open your eyes and answer me, I'm lowering you back onto the bed. Ah I knew that gets your attention, you okay?"

Steve blinks a few times to bring Philip back into focus, "Yeah I'm okay, didn't remember it hurting so much."

"OK, now comes the tricky part, we need to get you down to the floor. Good thing is you got pretty long legs, so you're almost there already. But because of your right side I can't grab you there and since your left side is not faring much better with your broken arm I can't grab you there either. Listen, first we're going to put your arm in a sling, that will help a lot with the pain, bet it really hurts."

"Yeah it does," he is still cradling his arm close to his chest.

Philip carefully puts a sling around his arm and adjusts the straps so that it gets the maximum support.

Steve's friends are watching the scene with worry, they can clearly see how much their friend is hurting, but they can also see the determination on his face to get to his feet. That is the Steve they know and missed. For the first time since he's been in the hospital, they see a glimpse of the SEAL in Steve and they couldn't be happier about it. They are glad that he is back.

"How's that, better," Philip is looking at his patient and tries to gauge if he is ready to get up or not.

"Yeah a lot actually, let's get this on the road," with all the activity and the flaring of pain, Steve has almost forgotten that there is a reason why he wanted to get up. Almost but not quite.

"Okay, now we put your feet down. Listen to me, you need to put your left leg down first, do not put weight on the right one yet. Got that?"

"Yeah okay, left first, got it."

Philip is standing in front of Steve and grabbing him at the waist, just above the bruised area of his hip and belly. He grabs the waistband of his sweatpants, "Okay, whenever you're ready get up."

Steve does just that and almost falls over, but Philip of course anticipated that and stops him with his whole body. Steve leans heavily against Philip and his arm starts screaming in pain when he stumbles against him, he hangs on for dear live with his right arm and is not even embarrassed to rest his head on Philip's shoulder, "Argh fuck!"

"It's okay Steve take a few deep breaths, you're doing great," Philip is holding him as best and as gently as possible.

When Steve falls against Philip, Danny jumped in to help but is held back by the nurse, "Don't touch him Danny, you will only hurt him more. First time is always difficult, most fall flat on their faces."

"Tell me about it," Steve mumbles.

"What was that? Steve did you say something?" Of course Philip had read up on Steve's medical history, at least the parts that concern his care, so he knew that his first times getting up where never very successful. He considers Steve still not hitting the floor as a huge victory. "So you up for the next step, Steve you doing okay," Philip is leaning back some when he realizes that Steve is not leaning that heavy on him anymore.

By some small miracle Steve did not put his right leg down yet, he still has it bent at the knee and his foot off the floor.

"Yeah I'm good, let's keep going, gets embarrassing hugging a guy like this in front of my girlfriend," he says with a smile in his voice. That actually gets a chuckle from the peanut gallery.

"All right then. Steve this will really hurt, normally you would not be allowed to put your whole weight on your leg yet, you should use crutches, but you can't because of your ribs and your broken arm. So we will keep the walking at a minimum for a week, then you can walk on it more easily and with less pain. Listen put your weight slowly on the right leg, lean on me as much as possible and see if you can lift your left leg. You ready?"

Steve still has a death grip on Philip's arm and is putting his leg slowly down. The pain that shoots up his leg is almost his undoing, he is almost sure that he screamed but he is not giving in to the agony in his leg, or the wild throbbing of his arm and certainly not into the hammering of his head, which is not taking kindly to the strenuous activity. He can already feel the blinding headache coming. The second step is much less painful and the third is almost bearable, it takes fifteen steps to the bathroom and when he finally makes it there he is panting but happy.

"I'm going to stay this time, next time you can manage on your own," Philip shuts the door and is ready to help Steve if he needs it. But he can manage and finally feels like a normal human being again. He almost sags with relieve. After taking care of business and freshen up, he feels actually pretty good.

"You think I can take a shower tomorrow?"

"Only if Catherine is willing to do it with you," Philip winks at him.

Laughter can be heard coming from the bathroom, interrupted by swearing when said laughter turns into coughing and groaning.

"What are they doing in there," Danny wants to know.

Before anyone can answer a grinning Steve and a smiling Philip are emerging from the bathroom. The trek back to bed is a painful one, but Steve manages it without much help from Philip. He sits down on the bed and they are going about the business of settling Steve back into bed, first the sling is taken off and then Philip lays Steve's leg on the pillow and helps him lie back down. Steve's ribs are wildly protesting against the activity they had to endure the last minutes and making their displeasure known with stabbing pain that leaves Steve a little breathless.

"Steve rest until the pain is settled down, use the PCA. Later you will get rid of the IV and you will be switched to oral painkillers, so use the pump as long as you still can. You doing okay?"

Steve is lying on his bed, eyes closed and trying to catch his breath, but he seems very happy. He feels like he just accomplished a huge achievement, something Philip is just confirming.

"Steve you did real good, this is a really huge step to recovery. You won't get better lying around in bed all day, now we get your circulation going and you will get better every day, couple days and you will be running around on your own."

"Thank you Philip," Steve is sincerely grateful for his nurse, it really makes the different.

"You're welcome," he turns and addresses Steve's friends, "Next time he needs to get up you can help him the same way, don't grab his arm and never touch his ribs, that can be dangerous, everything else is okay, only painful." That actually gets a loud snort from Steve.

"You know what I mean. Remember, the ribs are off limits, they could still shift and really hurt him. But don't worry he will be much more stable next time he gets up, you will be fine. If you don't feel comfortable helping him, call me."

During his speech he had checked Steve's temperature and is not very happy about it, "You're still running a low grade fever of 101, I'm going to see if Dr. Hope can do something more for your cold. You will feel much better without the added temperature."

Philip leaves and the five people left behind are aware that something big has happened, they got their Steve back. For the first time, it feels like he is actually in the room with them. He was for the first time able to use some of his training and shut the pain partially out, so that he could function, it was still very tempting to just give in, but he managed to overcome it. He feels like he could use his mind for the first time since he was hit on the head and woke up in that room with "tall guy" and "taser boy".

He grins at his friends and it is really easy to read in their faces what they are thinking, "I think my rest is kind of over."

Danny actually beats Cath to his bed, grabs his hand, which gets an irritated look from Steve, but he just doesn't care, "Welcome back my friend," his voice is almost choked up.

The smile and look Danny gives Steve lets any witty comeback die on his lips, he only manages a heartfelt, "Thank you."

H50 – H50 – H50

"Sir I was just informed that McGarrett managed to get up. Do you want to take him tonight?"

"No I already arranged for the opportunity in the morning. We talked about it, I think it's the best way to get him."

"But Sir tonight he will be alone, or just with his girlfriend."

"First of all his girlfriend is a Naval Officer, don't underestimate her. And secondly his team will not be with him in the morning, they will be otherwise occupied, don't worry the plan is already in motion and everything will work like clockwork."

"Sir I have no doubt, we snatched him once we will do it again."

"Jefferson if you hit him, what I'm sure you will do, don't hit his head. We need him being able to think. Other parts of his body I don't care much about, but we need him with a clear head. I don't want a repeat of the disaster from Friday night, I don't want him knocked unconscious. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir."

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Well there you have it, the nasty guys are planning their next attack. Well let's hope that the team is on high alert.<strong>_

_**Thanks again for reading, drop me a line if you like.**_

_**As always a little peek into the next chapter.**_

**Chapter 23 - Confrontations**

He is looking for his cellphone and sees it innocently lying on the couch-table. He is debating to get up and get it or call someone to get it for him. He is not sure if he can get it on his own, without someone there to grab him if he gets dizzy.

_It's just a few steps._ The little devil in him wins and so he gets into a sitting position, realizing that the IV will be a problem. It's stationary on his bed, he can't take it with him. Well first things first, he gets to the edge of the bed swinging his legs over so that he can really sit. His ribs are not happy with him, but he just ignores them, something he is now able to do. He studies his IV-port and finally figures out how to disconnect it without making a bloody mess. _Now that went well._ He slides down from the bed and slowly puts weight on his right leg_, yup still hurts the same_. He grits his teeth and makes it to the table and grabs his phone. _Well as long as you're up might as well take care of a rather urgent business_, so he makes a beeline for the bathroom. That of course was not such a great idea, because now he is getting dizzy, really dizzy.


	23. Chapter 23 Confrontations

_**I think it's time for some serious talking, now that Steve is able to keep up with his friends. Well sort of keeping up. **_**;-)**

_**Hope you will enjoy this chapter. Did I mention that I just love your reviews? Well I guess it can't hurt to say it again. You guys rock!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 23 - Confrontations<strong>

After the exertion of getting out of bed and putting weight on his hurt leg, Steve slept most of the afternoon. The strong painkillers helped knock him out. It also helped that he didn't get much sleep the night before, with the medication for his kidneys and the need to pee every half hour, not to mention the considerable pain that stuff put him in. But the meds also helped a lot; his kidneys were back to more than ninety-five percent productivity and Dr. Hope was convinced that they would recover the rest of the way on their own. Before he would be released he was scheduled for another MRI to make sure he was progressing fine.

Steve wakes up to an empty room, listening if he can hear any sounds coming from the bathroom but it seems that even his girlfriend left him for the time being. He is still not used to referring to Cath as his girlfriend even though he did it to Philip and in front of everyone else, but that was without him even thinking about it. Cath didn't say anything much about his declaration of love earlier, yes she returned it, but he gets the feeling that there is something she wants to tell him. Wanted to on Friday, but he didn't feel well and he is sure that was the reason that she didn't. He is pretty sure that he knows what it is, since the Admiral couldn't keep his mouth shut about her applying for a job at Pearl. He was totally elated when he heard that, but didn't tell Cath that he knew. He wanted her to tell him on her own time. Maybe she still has doubts about them being together. Really together that is. _We really need to talk_, he comes to the realization that if she is not starting to tell him soon, then he will.

He is looking for his cellphone and sees it innocently lying on the couch-table. He is debating to get up and get it or call someone to get it for him. He is not sure if he can get it on his own, without someone there to grab him if he gets dizzy.

_It's just a few steps._ The little devil in him wins and so he gets into a sitting position, realizing that the IV will be a problem. It's stationary on his bed, he can't take it with him. Well first things first, he gets to the edge of the bed swinging his legs over so that he can really sit. His ribs are not happy with him, but he just ignores them, something he is now able to do. He studies his IV-port and finally figures out how to disconnect it without making a bloody mess. _Now that went well._ He slides down from the bed and slowly puts weight on his right leg_, yup still hurts the same_. He grits his teeth and makes it to the table and grabs his phone. _Well as long as you're up might as well take care of a rather urgent business_, so he makes a beeline for the bathroom. That of course was not such a great idea, because now he is getting dizzy, really dizzy. Room's spinning and he holds on to the bar next to the toilet for dear life. _Great! So close._ He has no choice he leans against the wall and slowly slides down before he falls down. He hangs his head and closes his eyes, willing the dizziness away, of course that is not working one bit, and it's not helping that he really needs to go. _Damn!_ At least he was clever enough to grab his phone first. He shortly debates who to call, after careful consideration he makes a decision.

H50 – H50 – H50

Chin Ho Kelly is just about to enter the hospital when his phone rings, "Steve! I'm just heading to the cafeteria, can I bring you something?"

"Chin are you alone?"

"What? Yeah the others will be here soon, is everything OK?"

"Can you please come to my room first," Steve's voice sounds rather desperate and urgent, so Chin hurries up the stairs not waiting for the elevator.

"Be there in less than a minute," when he reaches Steve's floor nothings seems amiss. The guard is in front of the door and the station is quiet and calm.

Chin cautiously enters Steve's room and closes the door, not seeing him in bed let's all his alarm bells go off at once. He closes the distance to the bathroom door with a few steps.

"Steve you in there?"

"Yeah, please come in," he hears Steve's muffled reply through the door. The sight that greets him after entering is one to behold. Next to the toilet leaning against the wall sits his boss, cradling his arm and looking rather pathetically up to him.

"What happened, did you hurt yourself," Chin is crouching next to him and looking for any blood gushing wounds on his head. He chides himself silly since Steve is obviously very conscious.

"Got dizzy, had to sit down, can't get up alone," he looks so embarrassed that Chin has to bite down on the laugh that is threatening to bubble up.

"Did you make it here alone?"

"Yeah, would have made it back, but didn't wanna risk falling flat on my face when I got dizzy, so I choose to sit down. Chin can you please help me up before I embarrass myself even further?"

"Oh. . .you didn't. . .before you. . .okay how do we do this best? Do you want me to call someone?"

"NO! That's why I called you. Just grab me under the arms and hold on, I can use my leg to help."

Without much hassle Chin has Steve on his two legs, "You steady, can you stand?"

"Yeah I'm fine not dizzy anymore, thanks. Just don't go okay," Steve doesn't even wait for an answer but gets busy with what he came to do in the first place. Chin turns to give his boss some privacy and waits for him to finish up.

Steve doesn't need any help getting back to bed but is really grateful to lie back down. Chin connects the IV and sits down on the chair next to Steve's bed.

"Thank you," Steve looks at Chin and hopes that his gratitude shows in his words.

"No problem. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you call me, why not Philip or Danny for that matter, why me," Chin is really curious why his boss chose him for help. He couldn't have known that he was close by, could he?

"Philip is obligated to tell Dr. Hope about something like this. And there is really no need for that. I knew I could make it, I'm not stupid Chin, I know my limits, if it weren't for the dizziness I would have made it back and no one would be the wiser. As soon as I got dizzy I sat down to avoid any damage, but Dr. Hope might have revoked the privilege to get up. I really can't live with that for various reasons. I really don't want him to know."

"Hey I'm not telling anyone. I think it was okay for you to try to do it on your own, I can fully understand your need to do that and I know that you wouldn't do anything that you're not ready for. Or at least think you're ready for, just don't overestimate your abilities, okay?"

"I won't. Next time I call someone before I get up."

"Good. So why didn't you call Danny?"

Steve is trying to come up with the right words to tell his friend why he didn't call his best friend to help him, "Well, I think I just wasn't ready for another rant of his. I knew that you would be cool about this, you respect my decisions, even if you don't always agree with them. But Danny, well he's Danny. He rants about everything and everybody. He would have called me stupid and crazy and an idiot for doing it on my own. I guess I'm just not ready for a full dose of him."

"Do his rants and his complaining all the time bother you?"

"NO! I know that it is mostly in good fun and that it is his way of coping with a lot of things that are happening. It's fine, I mean he is my best friend and he can rant and complain all he wants all day long, I take it. But at the moment I can't, I have trouble differentiating between good fun and what he means in earnest. I can't discern if he's really mad or just blowing off steam. It's just that I don't want to be called an idiot or stupid at the moment, I'm not able to defend myself against his 'attacks'. Do you know what I mean," Steve looks somewhat helplessly at Chin.

"Yeah I know what you mean. You want me to talk to him?"

"No, I don't want him to change one bit. I love him just the way he is. See what I mean, my head is messing with me," but he grins at Chin anyway.

"Yeah right brah. So what about that coffee, you want some? You know they have the best cheesecake down there, I know that you eat cheesecake, don't worry you're secret is save with me," Chin says with a wink.

"Just plain cheesecake, maybe I can try some, I mean it doesn't really matter what comes back up, does it?"

"You still get nauseous?"

Steve laughs at that, "I'm nauseous all the time, just a few times a day it gets to the point where I get really sick and can't keep it at bay any longer. You ever been seasick? Feels a bit like that."

"What do you know about being seasick? You're a SEAL."

"Yeah so? I tossed my cookies more than once on a carrier during a heavy storm. Only happens on big ships, never on small boats. But yeah I can get seasick. Don't tell Danny, he'll only make fun of me. Damn I really need to get my head straight."

H50 – H50 – H50

As soon as Chin leaves Steve gets his phone out and dials one of his contacts, he knows that he will have a few more minutes of privacy.

"Jordan," a friendly voice comes to his ear.

"Hey JoJo, it's Steve."

"Steve, you're not calling to cancel our appointment, are you?"

"No, just to ask if we could meet someplace else?"

"Oh you can't come to my office?"

"No not really, I'm not really mobile at the moment. I'm at Queens Medical, but I really like to see you tomorrow."

"Steve what happened, are you seriously hurt?"

"Well that depends on who you ask. Couple broken bones, my head is pretty banged up, I have some trouble to. . .I. . .I had a panic attack."

"Steve how serious is your head injury?"

"Severe concussion, hairline fracture, was unconscious for twenty four hours, been awake for three days, well more or less, flashback happened yesterday."

"Don't worry about that, okay? I'm going to come see you tomorrow, you'll be fine. Is Catherine with you?"

"Not right now, but yeah she is here almost the whole time."

"Good, listen I'm going to talk to your doctor, you need him to tell that it's okay for me to get information on your stay at Queens. That okay with you?"

"Yeah sure."

"Good I'm going to call him right now, what's his name?"

"Mark Hope."

"OK, I see you tomorrow, try not to worry Steve, you'll be okay. Tell Cath I said hi."

"Will do. Bye."

That went better than he thought it would. He knows that his panic attack was mostly triggered by his severe head injury, but still it brought a lot of stuff to the surface that he needs to address. Before he can go any further with his thoughts, Chin and Danny are back.

"Here you go, plain cheesecake and coffee, as requested with milk. That's a new one, since when do you drink coffee with milk?"

"Just for a while, don't think I can stomach black coffee. Thanks for the cake. Hey Danny didn't you get anything, no sugarcoated something?"

"Nope, not hungry."

Steve suspiciously looks at him, he seems subdued, "You feeling okay?"

"Yes Steve I'm fine," Danny tries to smile at him, but Steve just knows that something is not right with his friend.

"Okay. Where are Cath and Kono?"

"Kono is finishing up with our findings and Cath said she needed to get something, don't know what. I'm sure they will be here shortly. How's the cake?"

"Good, as long as it stays where it's supposed to be," Steve grins at Chin.

Steve is looking at Danny who is sitting on the couch and flipping through the channel s on the muted TV, he acts rather odd. Just as he is going to address him Dr. Hope comes in.

"Gentlemen. Steve how are you doing? How's the head," with that he gets the hated pen light out of his pocket.

"Please don't use that thing again, that really hurts and makes me sick, I was just eating something, don't make me throw up just yet," Steve is pleading with his doctor. That damn light always sends him over the edge.

"OK, no light tonight. So how is your head?"

"Hurts."

"I know it hurts, how bad my question is. From one to ten, how bad is it?"

"A constant eight with spikes of twelve," Steve admits.

"I'm so sorry we can't come up with a medication that works with your headache. Your head is very unusual I must say. For a guy who was almost in a coma three days ago, you are remarkable clear and able to function. The clinical course of your concussion is very atypical. From your medical file I've learned that you always had to deal with the headache for a few weeks?"

"Yeah if I'm lucky the nausea will leave me in a week or so, only be back on occasion when I get dizzy."

"Okay, how is the other pain? I need to know so we can decide on the right pain meds; I like to switch you to oral painkillers. So how is everything? Start with the arm. Any increase in pain when you move your fingers?"

"No not really, arm is just throbbing, doesn't really hurt as long as it's elevated and I don't bump into anything."

"That's good. Your ribs feel a lot better, I'm very pleased with their healing process" while he is talking he is carefully prodding Steve's ribcage, surprisingly without much pain for Steve.

"I'm not going to touch your hip or belly, I know they are still very tender, but I'm sure that will be better in a few days. Any lingering back pain?"

"Just a little."

"So that leaves the leg. How is that?"

"Not good, really hurts."

Chin and Danny are very surprised to hear that, first that he is confessing to pain at all and secondly they really didn't know that his leg was hurting badly.

"What kind of pain is it, like the arm?"

"No, it's a really intense stabbing pain shooting up from my ankle to my knee."

"Only when you put weight on it?"

"No it's a constant pain, when I put weight on it the pain sky-rocks to a solid fifteen."

Doctor Hope doesn't like what he hears, he is now putting his hand under Steve's toes and gently presses them upwards. That results in Steve crying out.

"Listen Steve I'd like to get another x-ray. I don't like this, you should only feel a throbbing in your leg as long as you don't put weight on it. It's normal to feel some pain the first week even when just lying in bed, but there should be no intense pain like you're describing it. I don't want you to get up before we have another picture of it. We need to check this out first. Don't worry it might be nothing."

"Okay, you do the x-ray today?" Steve will not stay in bed any longer than necessary.

"Yeah in the next hour or so. Oh I almost forgot your psychiatrist called me, she said you talked to her and made an appointment with her for tomorrow."

Danny couldn't keep it in any longer, "You have a therapist?"

"Yeah! You got a problem with that," that actually sounded a lot more aggressive than he intended it to be.

"No, no problem," Danny is backing off way too easy, now Steve knows that something is up with him.

Dr. Hope is chiming in again, "I told her I would ask you if it is okay to send her the information she requested."

"Yeah that's fine. I've seen her on all the mandatory and voluntary sessions during active duty and twice a month since I'm in Hawaii, so yeah it's okay to send her all the information."

"She works at Tripler?"

"Yeah she does now in some kind of exchange program."

"Navy still paying for your sessions? Sorry none of my business."

"That's okay, yeah they do, they have no choice in the matter, they have to pay for it as long as I deem it necessary to see her. Got a court ruling for that," Steve smiles at that.

"Excuse me to pry and you don't have to answer that, but you have a court ruling against the Navy so that they have to pay for your therapist?"

"Well since I need a therapist because of what I did while in the Navy I figured they should pay for it but they wanted to cut my sessions short, I didn't like that, so yeah I went to JAG and got a court ruling. It's not just applying to me but to everyone whose medical care was cut short. Or at least to everyone who wants to see a therapist that is."

"Didn't that put you in trouble with your command or something?"

"Not really, the cuttings were just a bureaucracy thing, has really nothing to do with the Navy or what they want. You know how that is. So no trouble there, of course there are people who frown on seeking therapy for certain issues, but I think whatever floats your boat. I think it should be my decision if I want to see a therapist, no one but I can decide if I need it or not, certainly not some idiot who never even left his damn bureau desk and actually saw things first hand. Who has no idea whatsoever what it means to. . .sorry didn't mean to go off like that."

"No that's quite all right. I'm going to leave you now with your friends. The IV is off and Philip will bring you your pain meds a little later and we will do the x-ray then. See you later."

Steve is looking with some uncertainty to his friends, he didn't mean to reveal so much. _That damn concussion is really messing with me_, his thoughts are cut short when Danny takes the word.

"So we're going to meet that therapist of yours?"

"Danny I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"That's all right Steven don't worry about it, it's fine."

That is more confirmation than he really needs and he thinks being direct and blunt is the best way, "You heard me talking to Chin, didn't you?"

Steve can't suppress the chuckle that escapes when he sees Danny looking like the deer in the headlights, "I swear I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Listen guys I leave you two alone, okay. Be back with Kono and Cath. You two behave yourself," he says it to both of them but his gaze is boring into Danny. He leaves in the hope that they will work it out.

"Steve listen, I'm really sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't call me for help. And you're right I would have reacted just like you said I would. I'm sorry that I was such a lousy friend the last days."

"What? Danny you're a great friend and I hope you listened long enough to hear that I said I don't want you any other way."

"Yeah I did hear that. That head of yours really is messed up," he is smiling but it's not reaching his eyes.

"Yeah I guess it is, Danny it's not your fault, okay, it's mine, I'm the problem."

"No Steve you're not. You are hurt and I didn't really realize how bad your head really is. I should adapt my behavior according to your injury. And it is not a testament of me being a good friend not seeing that I hurt you with my ranting. I should have seen that you're not able to handle my normal behavior at the moment. And I'm truly sorry about that, I'm sorry that I was not here for you, that I made you avoid me. I am sorry that you were without your best friend at a time where you really needed me. I promise to do better and I will wait to call you an idiot until you're better," he is now smiling down at his friend who seems to fight with his emotions.

"Danny you were there for me when it really counted, you saved my life, you didn't give up on me. You listened to me when I was really scared after the panic attack, I know that you will always have my back. Please don't beat yourself up, I should have told you about the problems I have. I didn't and I'm sorry about that. Man if someone hears us, they will get the wrong impression," Steve is now grinning at his friend.

"You think you could handle me hugging you," but instead of a real hug, he just grabs Steve's hand in both of his, "Feel yourself hugged all right? I'm really glad you're going to be all right."

"Thank you Danny."

"So your adventure trip to the bathroom, did you hurt yourself?"

"Only my pride, almost didn't make it in time," Steve sheepishly admits.

"Hey you look a little pale, you feeling okay?"

"A bit too much talking, head hurts and the cheesecake is not really agreeing with me," Steve closes his eyes in the hope to keep the cake down, he is sure it won't taste as good the second time around.

"Anything I can do?"

"No not really."

"You want some water?" Danny wishes he can do something for his friend, anything that would make him feel better. He can only imagine how it must feel to be nauseous all the time, to throw up every time after he eats anything. How painful that must be for his ribs, not even to talk about the embarrassment to have to puke in front of his friends, his team-mates.

"Steve you do know that we don't think less of you because you get sick, don't you?"

"Yeah I know, I could still live without it. Danny I gotta puke," and he does. For the hundredth time since in the hospital, it at least feels like that.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading!<strong>_

_**Here again a little Sneak Peek into the next chapter.**_

**Chapter 24 - Breakdown**

He hates the feeling of waking up after being knocked out by sedatives, it always makes him feel fuzzy and kind of like a little drunk. He hates that he can't think straight and he hates the dizziness and the tiredness and the nausea, hell he hates all of it. He also feels kind of numb which tells him that he is on the really strong drugs again, not the oral painkillers he got the rest of the day. He doesn't know what kind of drug he received but he knows that it's not a good one, it's going to send him into an emotional tailspin. Knowing that of course doesn't help avoiding it.


	24. Chapter 24 Breakdown

_**A little warning! This chapter will deal again with Steve's mental problems. He still has a bit of a way in front of him. And the title IS very appropriate, so be prepared.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 24 - Breakdown<strong>

Kono and Cath arrive at the hospital just after Steve was taken to radiology to get another x-ray for his leg.

"Where's Steve? Everything okay," Cath is obviously worried to see a room without Steve in it.

"Don't worry everything's fine they took him to x-ray, Danny is with him. He was complaining that his leg hurt, so they're taking another picture. Should be back in a few minutes."

But it takes almost an hour until they are back. While Steve is settled back into the room, still asleep in his bed, Dr. Hope comes into the room to explain what happened, "The orthopedic surgeon had to recast his leg. Sometimes it happens that a cast doesn't fit perfectly, that is what happened in Steve's case. The bolstering was not perfect and the leg had some room to move. Just a few millimeters, but that was enough for the bones to grate against each other, which caused the pain he was in. It seems that the swelling of his leg was not completely down when it was first cast and when it got down even more there was room for the movement. But that is fixed now, there was no further damage. He should feel a lot better from now on."

"Why is he asleep," Catherine wants to now while she is inspecting the new cast, which doesn't look any different than the old one.

"We sedated him, to spare him any additional pain while his leg was out of the cast."

"Is that wise with his concussion?"

"It's only a very mild sedation he will be awake in a short while. We gave him a shot for the pain so don't worry if he seems a bit out of it. He will be fine in the morning. I will come by in the morning to see how he is. When he is waking up please encourage him to drink his nutrition drink. Now that he is off the TPN through his IV we need to keep his intake of calories up."

"Dr. Hope what's TPN," Kono thought that he only got fluids with his IV.

"Total parenteral nutrition, all his nutritional needs were given to him directly into the bloodstream. He was not able to keep anything down and that was the only way to give him everything his body needs. We try to switch him now to the elemental diet, those drinks," he indicates the not very appetizing looking drink on the tray, "but he should still try to eat whatever he likes. You should let him rest; please don't engage him in too much conversation. Sleep is the best thing for him right now, the pain of the last hours took a lot out of him, add his cold and the constant headache to the mix and you get an idea of how he really feels even though he seems relatively fine. So please let him sleep when he gets tired."

With that little speech Dr. Hope leaves them alone with a still sleeping Steve.

H50 – H50 – H50

He hates the feeling of waking up after being knocked out by sedatives, it always makes him feel fuzzy and kind of like a little drunk. He hates that he can't think straight and he hates the dizziness and the tiredness and the nausea, hell he hates all of it. He also feels kind of numb which tells him that he is on the really strong drugs again, not the oral painkillers he got the rest of the day. He doesn't know what kind of drug he received but he knows that it's not a good one, it's going to send him into an emotional tailspin. Knowing that of course doesn't help avoiding it.

He hears his friends talking, but he is not ready to open his eyes yet. He feels guilty for failing them. For giving up. For not remembering. He just can't face them just yet, so he keeps pretending to be asleep. He doesn't think that he can bear to see the disappointment in their eyes.

Steve is so deeply trapped in his guilt trip that he doesn't see the ridiculousness of thinking that someone will be disappointed with him. All he can think of is him in the jungle laying on the ground and being utterly tired and in so much pain. He thinks about how disoriented he was, and how he was hoping for Danny to find him, and how desperate and alone he felt when Danny didn't come. But the worst of all is to think about the moment he gave up. He is so ashamed of himself. He feels so confused; he doesn't think that he can face his friends ever again. Or himself for that matter. He's disgusted with himself for going against everything he ever learned and believed in and for not remembering his friends. For not remembering the last six years of his life. For not knowing who Danny was, his best friend who he was so desperate for in the jungle.

Somewhere deep down he knows that his thoughts are completely ridiculous and are triggered by the drug they gave him, but at the moment he is unable to change his thought process. So he keeps wallowing in guilt, self-hatred and is mentally distancing himself from his friends. From the comfort of love and friendship, from the things he needs the most at the moment.

Unnoticed by him a lone tear makes its way down his cheek.

"Steve? Are you awake, are you with us," Catherine sees the tear and assumes that he is waking up.

"Steve are you in pain? Please can you open your eyes," Catherine is touching his cheek and carefully wipes away the wayward tears he can't hold in any longer. After hearing her begging for him to look at them he can't suppress a sob and soon more tears are streaming down his face.

Steve is murmuring that he is sorry over and over again, interrupted by more sobs and more tears. He is openly crying now, he is so distressed that Catherine is getting into the bed behind him and takes him into her arms to comfort him. He is curled onto his left side and she has her arm under his head and is soothingly stroking his forehead and uses her other hand to gently rub his arm that he is pressing against his chest, while his whole body is wrecked with gut wrenching sobs.

Kono, Chin, and Danny are completely at a loss at what to do, they quietly leave the room to give their friend some privacy. They are not sure if he is awake or if this is a dream he is having. But they know that Steve is in good hands with Catherine so they leave after softly telling her that they will be back in an hour.

Steve is aware that he is not alone in his bed anymore, that he is almost completely embraced by Catherine who is softly talking to him. He can't make out her words, but he can hear that she is trying to calm his sobbing. He just can't seem to stop crying, which is not only kind of embarrassing but also makes his ribs really hurt and his sobs are now mingled with groans of pain, when it is getting more painful to breathe.

"Steve listen to me, I'm here, you'll be okay, please tell me what's wrong, are you in pain, Steve please tell me what you're sorry for," Cath is trying to get through to him. His crying is slowly dying down, but she isn't sure if that it's not simply caused by exhaustion. She can hear that he is clearly in pain from his ribs, they must hurt after all the sobbing.

"Cath?"

"Yeah I'm here. Shhhhhh it's okay, try to take slow breaths. You're okay, everything is going to be fine," Cath is still soothingly stroking his forehead and she can feel how he is slowly calming down and how his body is relaxing against her. After a few minutes just holding him and whispering sweet nonsense she is trying to get to the reason behind this breakdown.

"Steve you want to talk about it? About what just happened?"

Steve is not saying anything for almost a minute before he starts to talk in a low and tired voice, "I'm so sorry that I'm such a disappointment."

His voice is filled with such anguish that it almost breaks her heart.

"Steve what are you talking about, no one is disappointed in you. What makes you say something like that," she really is at a loss to why he would think of himself as a disappointment.

"I gave up. I just couldn't go on anymore, I'm so sorry Cath," she can feel that he is very close to starting to cry again.

"Steve do you mean after the plane crash?"

"I was so cold and I couldn't think and it hurt so much, but I'm supposed to get past that, to ignore that. I just. . .I felt so alone," he is swallowing the sob that threatens to send him over the edge again.

"Steve you were badly hurt, you're not responsible for what you did in the jungle. If one of your men with a severe head injury would pass out and not be able to carry on, would you blame him?"

"No of course not," before he even can go on she intervenes again.

"Why don't you have the right to pass out, when your head was bashed in, not even to mention that you were in a plane crash? Why don't you give yourself a break? You were almost killed and no one but yourself is blaming you for anything. You hear that," she is still holding him tightly when he starts to tremble a little.

Steve sniffles and coughs a little. Cath can feel the heat radiating off of him, they need to check if his fever is getting worse before they settle in for the night.

"Cath, you really think it was not my fault," his question is so softly spoken that she can barely hear him.

"Yes Steve everyone but you thinks that. It-was-not-your-fault! Maybe I can make it clear to you. After a plane crash what would be the first thing you do?"

"Look for survivors, secure the area, make sure that any survivors were save from any danger of the downed plane, give first aid to any injured people. Well in this case also get a weapon and eliminate any threats."

"Right, you know what you did? You stumbled out of the helicopter, did not look for any survivors, weapons, supplies or anything, you just went into the jungle. Doesn't that alone tell you that you were obviously not in your right mind," Cath hopes that he can follow her logic, that when he did everything wrong that one can do wrong, that he must have been really hurt.

"I could only think that I needed to get away, I wasn't really thinking of anything to tell the truth. My head was hurting so bad, I couldn't really think, I just wanted to find Danny. And when I woke up here I couldn't even remember him. Cath this is all so frustrating," if he weren't still in Catherine's arms he would probably hit something out of frustration.

"Hey it's okay, you remember them now, do you?"

"Yeah."

"See everything else will work out as well, you'll see."

"You think?"

"I know."

Steve is now finally looking around and sees that they are alone, "Where is everyone?"

"I think you scared them off," Cath says with a chuckle.

"Oh. This must be a really weird experience for them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well they know me with Five-0 and know only a little bit of my background, only what I wanted them to know. My file is sealed so they can't take a look even if they tried to. Seeing me like this in the hospital, it's a whole new Steve McGarrett for them and I'm not sure if they like what they see."

"But Steve it's still just you."

"Yeah I know, it's just another part of me, but they didn't know until now. They only saw the cool and collected McGarrett and only a glimpse of the non-professional me. Well Danny saw a lot more but also not everything."

"But Steve that's how it is for everyone, we always learn new things about our friends, co-workers every day."

"Yeah but I come with a lot of baggage."

"Well you did not exactly have a nine to five job my friend. You went through a lot for your job. So you're allowed to have some more baggage than others. And I'm sure your friends can carry it. Don't worry, okay?"

"'kay"

"You tired?"

"Yeah."

"You want me to leave so you can get a good night's sleep?"

"Can you please stay? I know it's not really comfortable to sleep with me, I mean in the bed with me, but would you please not leave?"

"Sure I'll stay as long as you are comfortable with me in your bed. But I think we should change into something more suitable for sleep. Can you hold out till your team is back, they wanted to check in before they leave."

"They still here?"

"As I know them they are in the cafeteria again, probably getting a discount by now. I'm going to call them."

A few minutes later they are back, but they can see that Steve is barely able to stay awake so they are really only there to say good bye and promise to be back in the morning.

Steve and Cath now only have to figure out how to get an almost sleeping Steve into the bathroom and into his sleep clothes and how to lay most comfortable in bed.

"How's the pain in your leg," Cath wants to know when she finally has him out of bed on the way to the bathroom.

"It's okay, hurts a lot less now."

They finish their tasks without much difficulty and soon Steve lays in bed more asleep than awake. Cath thinks if she waits a little longer he might fall asleep without her needing to get in bed with him.

"You coming," interrupts a drowsy voice her musings.

"Yeah just trying to figure out how best to do this. I think you should stay on your back so your leg can be elevated, how about I lay on the left side of you, I mean there is only the broken arm and I can work around that."

"Hmmm."

She can clearly see that Steve can't fight the sleep any longer; shortly she is debating if it is the right decision to stay out of the bed since she promised him to stay with him, but he will be more comfortable if he doesn't have to share his bed. She waits a little while longer and when she is sure that he really is deeply asleep she settles down on the couch.

She wakes up at four in the morning by a strange noise, it's a mix of coughing, retching and soft talking.

The first two sounds are made by Steve and the talking is done by Dorothy, the elderly night nurse who seems to be really fond of Steve.

"Okay you just rest now, drink some more water and try to get back to sleep, you see you will feel better soon."

"Hi Dorothy."

"Catherine, sorry we woke you up. Steve's not feeling well his fever is over 102 now, Dr. Lynn gave him something an hour ago, should be better soon, but he is pretty restless. Maybe you can calm him down some. Call me if you need anything."

And so Catherine ends up in Steve's bed with her feverish boyfriend in her arms after all, who settles down almost immediately when she crawls into his bed. It's not easy to find a comfortable position without hurting him and still be able to hold and comfort him. But finally she manages and falls asleep in the hope to wake up to a better morning.

H50 - H50 - H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again so much for still sticking around and watching Steve going through some pretty hard times. He REALLY appreciates it. ;-)<strong>_

_**And as always a little Sneak Peek into the next one.**_

**Chapter 25 - A fresh start**

"Yeah like the stuff for my nausea? That's a real success story," Steve sounds rather pissed and is sitting back down on the bed.

"Good point. Come on Steve we just had a great shower and in just two more days you're out of here, Doc Hope said if you're progressing like now you will be released Saturday morning. So stop complaining about not making any progress you're doing great."

"Guess so," he meekly admits.

"Is this about what happened in the shower," Cath is just finishing putting his t-shirt onto him when she sits down on the bed next to him and takes his hand in hers.

"Hmmm."

**Earlier that morning . . .**

_**Sorry but you have to check back here on Saturday to find out what happened in the shower :-)**_


	25. Chapter 25 A fresh start

**Chapter 25 - A fresh start**

"Look what I got you," Cath gets a pair of khaki cargo pants with a flourish out of her shopping bag.

"Ah nice, but I hate to tell you, I have dozens of them at home," Steve is sitting on the edge of his bed only glad in his underwear and looking somewhat irritated at her.

"Not like these, you don't," she's now smiling at him, "they have a zipper not buttons AND you can change them into shorts." To demonstrate she already is using the zipper at the knee to shorten one leg, "I figured that way we don't have to ruin more of your 'favorite' pants," she is only half joking since she knows how much he loves his cargos.

"Oh."

"Don't be overly excited about it," she is a tiny little bit disappointed at his reaction but recovers fast, "What's the matter?"

"No really they are great, thank you. It's just you guys are doing all the work while I'm just lying around like a vegetable and can do nothing much but sleep. Guess I'm a bit frustrated," he sheepishly grins at her.

"Ah I see, I was actually waiting for that, took you long enough to start complaining about your lack of progress."

"What?"

"Look Steve, you are really hurt, you were in a plane crash just five days ago, let me spell it out to you f-i-v-e days ago. You banged your head really hard, I don't think you have any idea how incredibly lucky you are. How lucky we are that you're even here. So please just relax, lay back and enjoy being mothered by me and your friends, okay?"

"Mothered, huh?"

"Yeah well I'm sure you can use a little more TLC, besides as I know you, you will be hopping around in two days anyway, if not sooner."

"Not so sure about that," is his soft replay.

"What do you mean," Cath is looking worriedly at him and at the same time helps him get the new cargo pants up over his hips. Steve is balancing somewhat unsteady on one leg and hanging on to her shoulder.

"Well I'm used to the nausea and the vomiting and the splitting headache, had all that before but the dizziness is new. I get real dizzy when I get up, without hanging on to Philip or you I would not even make it to the bathroom. And my head really hurts, way worse than six years ago. Don't tell Doc Hope or Philip."

"Why didn't you tell him, maybe he can give you something for it," since he isn't loosening his grip on her yet, she zips him up and closes his belt.

"Yeah like the stuff for my nausea? That's a real success story," Steve sounds rather pissed and is sitting back down on the bed.

"Good point. Come on Steve we just had a great shower and in just two more days you're out of here, Doc Hope said if you're progressing like now you will be released Saturday morning. So stop complaining about not making any progress you're doing great."

"Guess so," he meekly admits.

"Is this about what happened in the shower," Cath is just finishing putting his t-shirt onto him when she sits down on the bed next to him and takes his hand in hers.

"Hmmm."

**Earlier that morning**

"_Come on Cath, please, Philip said it would be all right." Steve is looking almost pleadingly at her. He really wants to take a shower, it's almost a week since he had one and he feels grimy and doesn't think that he can take it much longer without feeling the water on his body._

"_What about your casts?"_

"_They are fiberglass and waterproof, I can even go swimming with them, okay not now but later. Look Philip even gave me the cover for the end of the cast, so no water can run under it. Please Cath?"_

"_Are you sure you are stable enough to stand in the shower with just me there," she is very unsure about all this, but can understand that he desperately wants a shower. Not just because he wants to clean up, but because it would feel like washing away all the bad stuff associated with the crash._

"_Yes I am, I can lean against the wall and you can help me, we already made it to the bathroom twice. I think it worked great, better even than with Philip," he knows of course that she is not buying that argument, but he still smiles his best smile at her and knows that he just won._

"_All right, but I'm telling you if you pass out on me in there, you better not wake up or I will kill you myself," she smiles at him and adds, "and no funny business", still with a smile on her face._

_Steve only grins at her and eases off the bed, something he mastered last night. His technique looks awkward but it works and he gets off the bed with minimal pain and hassle._

"_Wow you are in a hurry," Cath laughs out loud at his eagerness._

_They make it to the bathroom without incident and Cath helps him sit down on the closed toilet._

"_Did you lock the door?"_

"_Yes Steve don't worry you're virtue is safe," she grins back at him._

"_Oh I'm not thinking about me, I just don't want to share you with Danny, he has a knack for coming in unannounced."_

"_Well let's hope we won't get busted then."_

_She is already down to her underwear when she glances at her boyfriend, "Enjoying the show?"._

"_Busted, huh?"_

"_Come on, your turn. Let's get you out of your shirt first." Cath carefully pulls his shirt over his head. Steve got rid of the bandages around his chest last night and so she can clearly see the ugly __bruises muddling his skin. She lightly touches them and gently strokes her fingers over them which __results in a sharp intake of breath, but that has nothing to do with any pain she causes. _

"_Can you get up, so we can strip you down?"_

_His sleeping-short is joining the other clothes on the floor, they slowly move over to the shower stall, which is not really a stall since it is open to two sides. Cath gets the water running and adjust the temperature._

"_Don't make it too warm or it will make me dizzy," Steve holds on to the handle in the shower and waits to get under the water. Seconds later he lets the water run over him and he sighs in bliss. After hearing a chuckle he opens his eyes, he hasn't even realized that he has closed them._

"_You really love the water, don't you," Cath can't keep the laughing out of her voice._

_Instead of an answer he let go of the handle and gently grabs her neck and brings his head down to her level, the kiss that follows is gentle and full of love. But it only takes a few moments to get more urgent and it turns into a kiss full of passion and promise. They are both panting when they part for a second, only to get some much needed air so they can deepen the kiss. Cath can feel Steve reacting to their kissing and lets her hands travel over his body, but stops when he starts groaning, not from pleasure put clearly from pain. He breaks the kiss off and leans against the wall._

"_Please stop," he leans against the wall with his eyes tightly closed biting his lower lip and trying to catch his breath._

"_Are you hurting?"_

"_A little. . .hurts when you touch me. . .I'm sorry," Cath can see that he is clearly ashamed of his reaction to her touching him intimately._

"_Shhhh, it's okay, we just stick to cleaning up for now, OK?"_

"_Yeah 'kay, feel a little dizzy, guess not much blood left in my head," Cath has to chuckle at his attempt to joking, "but helps with the headache," he adds smiling._

"_Well Commander in that case we should try this again in a few days."_

"_Yeah I guess we need to practice some more, since I didn't really master this one," Steve smiles down at Cath and gets another sweet kiss as a reward._

_They actually start to clean up at some point and finally turn the water off; Cath puts a large towel around Steve's waist and sits him down on the closed toilet again. He can't really do much, he's a bit wasted and he can't get his arm above his head to at least dry his hair because of his ribs, so he just 'enjoys the show' again._

"_As soon as you're feeling better I want you to return the favor," Cath is telling him with a smile._

"_No idea what you're talking about."_

"_Yeah right. Come on let's get you presentable again," she dries Steve off in no time and only with one yelp when she pressed on his ribs. Steve actually pales a bit but assures her that he is all right. She gets his boxer-briefs on him but no pants or shirt._

"_What you want me running around like this? No pants," Steve looks down at himself and has to __laugh a bit, clad only in dark-gray underwear and one blue sock._

"_No of course not, don't want all the nice nurses getting a heart attack, but I have a surprise for you."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes really, come on back to bed with you."_

H50 - H50 - H50

"Steve talk to me please. Was it uncomfortable for you to be touched because you thought back?"

"No it's not that. First it was pleasurable but then it got uncomfortable and it started to really hurt."

"Are you in pain now?"

"No it's fine now. Cath I want you to know that I really wanted you to touch me, hell I started it. I'm really sorry that I started something I couldn't finish. But I want you to know that I rarely have a problem anymore with you touching me. Most of the time it's fine and I really like it, I enjoy it, I know that was not always the case and you were really patient and always gentle, thank you for that. This is not your problem but mine."

"Yeah but there you're wrong, we're in this together and we will get through this together, just like always. Listen, if you're still in pain in a few days, you will talk to your doctor about it," her tone of voice leaves no room for arguments.

"Fine I will. Did I tell you lately that I love you?"

"It's been a day or two," she smiles at him, fully knowing that he only said it once since they are together. They had that stupid rule made up early in their relationship not to say it. To keep it casual, but they both know that their relationship was exclusive from the beginning. There is no doubt in her mind that Steve was not with other women since they met the first time. There certainly was no other man for her. She still needs to tell him that she applied for a job down at Pearl at the Naval OPS Center as soon as he decided to stay in Hawaii, she still hasn't gotten her job, but the Admiral said it looks good, so she is hoping to stay in Hawaii for good. Of course they haven't talked about it, she wanted to tell him last Friday but he wasn't feeling well, so she didn't.

She hops down from the bed in search of his shoes, well one boot.

"What are you looking for?"

"Your boot, I want to take you out."

"What? You're kidding me, right? I just survived the shower and now you want me to walk around," just the thought of walking makes him hurting and tired.

"No of course not, I want to wheel you around, I organized a wheelchair."

"NO! I'm not going to be pushed around in a wheelchair. Forget it!"

_Now she is really off the rocker, I'm NOT going to get in a wheelchair. Never._ Steve is mumbling and swinging his legs back onto the bed, lays back and closes his eyes, successfully ending the discussion before it even started. He is feeling a major headache coming his way and is really not interested in what she has up her sleeves.

"Steve listen to me, I don't want to wheel you around just for fun. Hey you listening?"

Steve has his eyes tightly closed, "Cath can you please close the blinds?"

Cath is closing the blinds, successfully dimming the light in the room, "Does your head hurt?"

"Hmmmm." This burst of pain is even worse than the one he had when Danny yelled at him, he thinks he might pass out, he can't really hear Cath talking to him. The hammering in his head is so loud it tunes out any other noise even his own groaning. And then there is a blinding white light and then nothing.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Jefferson you in position?"

"Yes Sir, the van is parked and ready."

"Good, it will take about 30 minutes, be ready."

"Yes Sir."

H50 – H50 – H50

Chin is already busy for over an hour at HQ when Danny arrives, "Chin you're early."

"Lieutenant Davies came through he sent all the files and all information he could get on the investigation. It's quite a lot, I hope he's not getting into trouble for this."

"Anything useful?"

"Yeah, a lot actually. Steve was the Officer who made the accusation that Captain Brown endangered his men and the mission. He was backed up by the whole team, but he made the official report. I guess Webster is pretty pissed at him. But when you read the report you understand that Steve reported him. It's a wonder that they didn't get killed. Most have to thank Steve and a Lieutenant Cain for that."

"Wait a minute, they did an op with a Captain, a Lieutenant Commander and a Lieutenant in the team. Isn't that a bit of an overkill?"

"Yes it is, but Cain was there because he was new and it was his first mission with a SEAL-Team, the Captain was the Leader and Steve was only there because of his special skill he was flown in shortly before the mission."

"What's his specialty," Danny is very eager to know.

"No idea, it's not in the file. Guess you have to ask him."

"He is not telling, already tried that. So I take it the op was a failure?"

"No, they accomplished the mission, but with heavy losses. It was not smooth, three of them got injured, Steve included. But all just minor injuries. They eliminated the target, doesn't say what that was, but could not get the Intel. They barely made it out of there, wherever there was, doesn't say that either."

"So we can assume that Brown wants Steve for revenge?"

"I don't think so Danny. I mean wouldn't he just have killed him on the yacht or even right after he was captured? Why postpone it?"

"Maybe he wants to 'enjoy' it. Maybe he wants to see Steve in pain, who knows what that sick bastard wants with Steve. Maybe he has information he wants."

"Maybe. We should leave if we want to be at the base on time."

Chin gathers all his files on a flash-drive to show to Steve later and is ready to leave to see the Admiral when Danny is.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Steve! Steve can you hear me," Cath is trying to get Steve to answer her, but he is unresponsive. Just as she is going to call for help he turns his head and opens his eyes.

"Steve?"

"Hmmmm, wow that was. . .a bad one," he is still trying to focus, his vision is blurry but the intense pain that send him over the edge just a minute ago is gone.

"You okay? You passed out on me."

"Yeah. . .but not in the shower. . .any more. . .so don't kill me, please," he is trying to smile, but is not sure if he is successful.

"I'm going to get Dr. Hope."

"No, I'm okay. You know that this happens sometimes, I'm amazed that it was the first time that it got so bad. Sorry didn't mean to scare you, I'll try not to pass out again."

"Don't joke about it. I know that your head gets really bad at times, but you never passed out before."

"Yes I did, a few times actually, six years ago. Oh I remember you were not there those two weeks, you were out at sea."

Cath is sitting on the bed and gently touches his forehead, "You feel better?"

"Yeah, down to the normal throbbing," Steve thinks it's kind of ridiculous that he is grateful that the pain level is down to a painful hammering in his head.

"Listen Steve I know you don't want to get into a wheelchair, but this might be important."

Steve makes a 'face' at her but hears her out.

"Two doors down is Agi Nakamura. He will be released today. You only have another hour or so to talk to him. I can't get a hold on the team, so I thought we'd go and talk to him."

"You kidding, Nakamura is here in this hospital?"

"Yeah in the very next room. So you want the wheelchair or not?"

"I can walk over there," with that he is getting ready to get out of bed.

"No you can't. Steve if Dr. Hope sees you walking around outside of this room, he will not let you go any time soon and will probably hand-cuff you to the bed. Remember he was very adamant last night that you are only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom with your leg as long as you can't use at least one crutch. The bones in your leg need to stabilize before you can walk on it some more. Please Steve you risk injuring your leg further, you don't want that, do you?"

"You had me after the handcuffs."

"Oh okay," she can only grin at that, "so let's hop into the wheelchair."

It is not that easy to actually sit down in a chair, even if it was a wheelchair, but they managed.

"You comfortable?"

"No. My hip hurts to sit like this, but that's not gonna stop me, so let's go see Mr. Nakamura."

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks for reading! Drop me a line if you like.<strong>_

_**So now we're off to see Nakamura. Or are we? Check in next time and as evil as ever a little peek into the next one.**_

**Chapter 26 - Snatched**

Danny Williams is speeding, he knows it, but he just doesn't care, if he could he would drive even faster. Even with the lights and the siren he is not fast enough for his liking. Just minutes ago they were informed that there was an incident at the hospital involving Commander McGarrett. They wouldn't give out any information but he has a really bad feeling about it, that's why he is flying down the streets to the hospital.

When he and Chin arrive they can see that the parking lot is swarmed with police cars.

"What the hell," Danny is out of the car and is running into the entrance of the hospital, where Kono is already waiting for them, "Kono where is Steve?"


	26. Chapter 26 Snatched

_**Thank you all so much for the great reviews and your continues support. The response to this story exceeds my wildest expectations. Thank you so much!**_

_**I hope that all the US-readers will have a great 4th of July-weekend! Enjoy your time.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 26 - Snatched<strong>

Cath is just about to push Steve to the door when Dr. Lynn and Philip are entering.

"Steve, Cath good morning. Where are you going," Dr. Lynn is blocking the way out of the room.

"Just next door visiting a friend," Cath quickly comes up with an answer.

"I'm sorry but you have to postpone that a little, you are scheduled for a MRI in a few minutes, Philip is going to take you down there, Cath can wait here if she likes."

"What do I need a MRI for again, don't you have enough pictures of my head by now," Steve doesn't want to postpone his visit and he certainly doesn't want to tell Dr. Lynn where he was going.

"Dr. Hope wants to take a look at your kidneys again since you're still running a light fever, just to make sure that everything is ok. It will only take a few minutes. Your friend will be here when you come back."

"No he won't, he gets released today."

"Don't worry no one gets released before one pm, plenty of time for you to be back. Philip will you take the Commander downstairs please?"

"Yes doctor of course, you ready for a nice ride Steve," Philip is taking over from Cath who reluctantly lets go of the wheelchair, "Steve you're almost up for your next dose of pain meds, can you hold up until after the MRI or do you want me to get them for you now?"

Steve felt the pain level in his leg increase a few minutes ago, after all the activity in the shower and walking back and forth to the bathroom. The leg not being elevated doesn't really help either with the pain, but he is sure that he can tough it out for a while, even though his arm is heavily chiming in into the various pains spread over his body.

"No it's okay I can wait a little longer, let's get this over with."

"I'm going with you," Cath announces to no one in particular and is following the trek to the elevator.

"Officer we're only going two floors down to radiology, I'm pretty sure he is safe there," Dr. Lynn smiles at the young officer who is following them.

"Sorry Doctor, but Detective Williams told us to not let the Commander out of our sight. Where he is going, I'm going."

"All right then."

They are passing the two elevators on the floor when Steve is speaking up again, "Where are we going, didn't you say we need to get downstairs?"

"One of the elevators is still shut down by the safety board after it got stuck and the other is reserved for patients in bed, we're going to use the visitor's one, it's just down the hall."

Only the elevator for the visitors is connected to all floors of the hospital, even the parking garage. But the cabins are not as big as the ones for the patients since visitors seldom come to the hospital in their beds, so when the cabin arrives it is clear that they will not all fit in there. At least not comfortably.

"Listen Philip you take Commander McGarrett downstairs, I'm going to take the stairs. See you in a minute," with that the doors are closing.

They are not even completely closed when Steve practically jumps out of the wheelchair, "Give me your back-up gun," he shouts at the officer.

"What?"

"Give me your gun!"

"Why are we going down to the basement? I didn't press any button," Philip is also shouting now.

"Give me your damn gun!"

But before he can finally comply to Steve's order, the door opens and two soft pops can be heard, the same second the officer crumbles to the door. Steve isn't sure who's screaming he hears, Philip or Catherine's, he doesn't have time to analyze it, since he is jumping the assassin in a flying tackle that would make his coach proud and send his doctor into a wild fit. The impact of his right shoulder with the black glad man's midsection sends both of them to the ground. The assassin's grunting, when the air is pressed out of his lungs by the weight that barrels into him and Steve's screaming when he crashes to the floor with his broken arm hitting the ground first. But that does not hinder him to go after the attacker again, Steve is on his knees and ready to knock him out when he is kicked in the lower right part of his back, right into his already bruised kidney region. He is sent to the ground, a terrible pain explodes in his back, which pales against the agony that erupts when he is kicked low in his belly while he is lying on his side. He can't breathe, his vision is greying and he thinks he hears Cath shouting his name and then he hears two more pops. For a second he has time to think that Cath just got killed when he is kicked again and can't withstand the beckoning darkness any longer.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams is speeding, he knows it, but he just doesn't care, if he could he would drive even faster. Even with the lights and the siren he is not fast enough for his liking. Just minutes ago they were informed that there was an incident at the hospital involving Commander McGarrett. They wouldn't give out any information but he has a really bad feeling about it, that's why he is flying down the streets to the hospital.

When he and Chin arrive they can see that the parking lot is swarmed with police cars.

"What the hell," Danny is out of the car and is running into the entrance of the hospital, where Kono is already waiting for them, "Kono where is Steve?"

"Danny they got to him, they took him."

"Catherine," Danny doesn't dare to think about her getting hurt, about what that would do to Steve.

Kono wordlessly leads them downstairs to the first level of the parking garage, which is suited under the hospital. The sight that greets them is right out of a crime show, HPD, CSU, NCIS and NAVY are all over the place. The elevator in the far corner is taped off with the yellow crime scene tape, they can see Max inside and are fearing the worst.

When they get closer they can see one dead body on the floor, Officer Timothy James, shot in the chest and head, his blood splattered all over the walls. But they can also see a huge pool of blood next to him, there was obviously at least one other victim.

Max answers the unasked question, "They shot Philip Kayoon, Steve's attending nurse, he is in surgery right now, they hope to save him, doesn't look good though."

"Where is Catherine?"

"She was not here, we're waiting for the data from the surveillance, maybe we know more then."

"Sir I have the film from the cameras," a young crime tech officer approaches them.

Kono is taking the stick and sets up her computer to watch the file. The file starts with the party boarding the elevator, they see Steve suddenly getting up and screaming at the officer, obviously demanding something, after a few seconds he is getting his back-up weapon out of the holster to give to Steve, but before he gets the chance they see him crumbling to the floor. Next they only see Steve flying out of the elevator, they can't really see the fight that goes on, only see that his legs are suddenly still and that he is lying on his side. Then Philip gets shot and a man appears inside the elevator, Jefferson, holding a gun on Cath, who stands calmly and seems to talk to him, he looks at Steve and then motion for her to go on, she rushes out and shortly after they disappear completely from view. It all didn't take longer than twenty seconds.

All three Five-0 try to come to grips what they just saw. It is obvious that Steve knew that something was going to happen, that is why he demanded a gun.

"Is there any other surveillance of the parking garage?"

"No the system is offline, no idea why they didn't also cut the camera in the elevator," Chin is looking around for his contact to NCIS, to see if they have any more information.

"This is our fault, we never should have left Steve with just one cop for protection. He was inexperienced and way out of his league. His death is on us," Danny is saying sadly.

"No Danny, NCIS and NI had men at the hospital also, there was no way to know that this was going to happen. I would have bet that they would not be so bold to go after Steve in the hospital," Chin is trying to see the reality of the situation. "They must have a man on the inside."

"Who? We checked everyone out, there was nothing suspicious going on. You have a suspect?"

"I would say we have four. Hope, Lynn, Philip and Stephanie," Chin is listing his suspects.

"Not Philip, not him. Besides he got shot, will probably die," Kono thinks about his wife she met a short while ago.

"Doesn't mean anything, maybe their way of getting rid of him. We should check them all out and question them. Where are the other three, let's start with Dr. Lynn."

While leaving the crime scene they inform the Agent of NCIS that they are going to question Dr. Lynn next and that they will meet again later to compare notes.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve wakes up to a rolling sensation and terrible pain stretching from his arm over his belly to his leg. He can't really say which is the worst, probably his arm, he is trying to wiggle his fingers but that results in such intense pain that he can't suppress the low groan escaping. That wakes him up some more and he becomes aware that he is half sitting propped up against some soft cushions, with his head resting on a soft pillow, securely held in place by something around his chest and forehead. Suddenly it's clear to him that the pillow is softly talking to him.

_Pillows can't talk_, he thinks, but it seems that he said it aloud when the pillow talks back in the calm voice of Catherine, "What? Steve you awake?"

"Cath! I thought. . .you got shot. . .are you okay," his breathing is labored and his voice pain-filled.

"I'm fine he didn't hurt me, lie still, Steve what are you doing," she is trying to hold him in place.

"m 'sick," Cath helps him to roll a bit to his side, so that he doesn't choke. His retching only gets interrupted by his groaning and the droning of the engine of the van they are in.

When he is done he is completely spend and lies back against her and just wants to give in to the darkness calling him.

"Steve stay with me, please you have to stay awake," Cath's voice is very urgent and he tries his best to follow her order.

"Hurts. . .so much. . .my arm. . ."

"I know, you fell on it, what were you thinking tackling him like that? Are you nuts," Cath is trying to rail him up a bit, maybe that keeps him awake, but he is not biting.

"Can't move. . .my fingers. . .pure agony. . .bastard kicked me again. . .I'm going to. . .kill him. . .soon as I. . .get my hands on him."

"Can't blame you, shhhhhh try to take deep breaths, Steve you need to calm your breathing, you're hyperventilating, come on breathe with me, put the pain away, you can do it, I've seen you do it before, come on concentrate," she knows that it will be hard for him, most likely impossible with his head injury, but she needs him to concentrate on his training.

"kay. . .I try. . .did. . .they shoot. . .Philip," Steve is trying very hard to concentrate on his breathing, his erratic intake of air makes him dizzy and he knows that he doesn't have much time before he will pass out because of lack of oxygen, he just can't take a deep breath. The pain is racing through his body setting every nerve ending on fire. He had his last dose of pain meds hours ago and that only were oral painkillers not the heavy stuff of the PCA. Even without the new kicks and hits he would be in pain, just not beyond the scale like it is now.

"Cath, what about Philip," he realizes that that was almost a sentence without him gasping for air. He keeps breathing and he is able to give the control over to his training, he can feel how the pain is slowly receding, it's still there and it still hurts really bad, but he is in control of it, something he was not capable of the last days.

Cath can feel how her friend is relaxing in her arms, how his body loses the almost rigid state, how he melts into her and how his breathing reaches normal levels. She is still stroking his forehead in a slow rhythm, giving him something to concentrate on.

"You feel a little better," she whispers in his ear.

"Hmmmm, think so. Arm hurts real bad, think I hurt it," Steve has his eyes closed and has control over almost every pain except his arm, that is screaming so loud at him, that he can't shut it out.

"Anything else that hurts more than before," Cath tries to assess the damage or the additional damage that is.

"Leg throbs wildly and I don't think we will practice in the shower any time soon again," Steve tries to make light of the intense pain that is radiating up to his belly.

The car comes to a sudden stop which jolts them both and elicits a loud groan from Steve. The sliding door of the van is opened and they look into the grinning faces of their kidnappers.

"Isn't that cute? Get out you two," he bellows at them.

Steve and Cath are not moving.

"Trust me you don't want me to help you out of the van, now move it, I'm not repeating myself again."

"Okay, okay, we're coming, he can't get up on his own, I need to help him," Cath is trying to buy some time to figure out a way to get Steve out of the van without setting off the intense pain again. But Jefferson gets impatient and simply grabs Steve's casted leg and pulls him to the edge of the door, completely ignoring the screaming that the action causes.

Steve feels like his limp is just being pulled out of its socket and like his bones are shattered into pieces when Jefferson let go of his leg and it drops onto the ground. He would scream again but he is fighting to stay conscious after his head is knocked onto the floor of the van, when he is suddenly pulled out of Cath's grip. He feels himself roughly pulled upright and then he groans when a shoulder presses into his lap while he is carried in a fireman's lift down a pier. He can't stay conscious any longer; the agony in his head intensifies to a level he can't fight while hanging upside down, he finally passes out when his arm is bumped into a pole at the end of the pier. He doesn't see that they are boarding a yacht ready to leave the harbor as soon as they are on board.

Steve and Cath are brought below deck and locked into a cabin. Steve is dropped onto the bed standing in the middle of the luxury cabin and as soon as Jefferson and his goon leave Cath is at his side.

Steve is completely unresponsive, she checks for blood on the back of his head but finds none. She tries to make him as comfortable as possible, elevates his leg and gently lays his arm on a pillow. His breathing is calm and deep, his pulse strong. There is nothing else she can do for him at the moment, so she just settles on the bed and waits for him to come to again.

H50 - H50 - H50

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><p><em><strong>Well we're back on a yacht, let's hope that it will be a better experience than the last time around. Wouldn't hold my breath. ;-)<strong>_

_**Sneak Peek anyone? OK here we go.**_

**Chapter 27 - Move along**

A minute after Cath settled down to watch Steve she figures that she can at least check the cabin for anything that they might use as a weapon. So she looks into every drawer of every closet, but she comes up empty. There is absolutely nothing of use in the cabin. After a thorough search she settles back down on the bed. Steve hasn't stirred in the last ten minutes and she is worried that he injured his head again when he bumped it on the floor of the van. A few minutes ago the engines were started and she can feel that the yacht is moving.

Just as she is standing up to look out the port light Steve is coming to. He groans and protectively pulls up his legs to lessen the strain on the areas where he was kicked by Jefferson.

"Steve? Come on wake up," Cath is trying to rouse him some more, he still has to open his eyes.

Another minute passes but finally he looks at her, "Cath, you all right?"


	27. Chapter 27 Move along

_**Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend, well at least you US-guys hopefully will.**_

_**Thanks again for all the reviews, alerts and just plain reading. We're getting closer to meet the people behind all this, let's hope Steve will be up to it.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 27 - Move along<strong>

A minute after Cath settled down to watch Steve she figures that she can at least check the cabin for anything that they might use as a weapon. So she looks into every drawer of every closet, but she comes up empty. There is absolutely nothing of use in the cabin. After a thorough search she settles back down on the bed. Steve hasn't stirred in the last ten minutes and she is worried that he injured his head again when he bumped it on the floor of the van. A few minutes ago the engines were started and she can feel that the yacht is moving.

Just as she is standing up to look out the port light Steve is coming to. He groans and protectively pulls up his legs to lessen the strain on the areas where he was kicked by Jefferson.

"Steve? Come on wake up," Cath is trying to rouse him some more, he still has to open his eyes.

Another minute passes but finally he looks at her, "Cath, you all right?"

"I'm fine. How is your arm," she is very worried that he seriously hurt his arm when he tackled the other guy.

"Much better, I guess I should thank them that they hit the pole with it. Maybe something shifted back, I don't know, but it's okay now."

"Your head? You were unconscious again."

"Doesn't hurt more than before. My leg's really bad though. Cath listen to me. When you get a chance to get away, take it."

"No. I'm not leaving you here."

"Cath please, if there is an opening I want you to take it and get the hell out of here. Please Cath I'm in no shape to try anything."

"No Steve I'm not leaving you behind. Forget about it, and don't you dare make that an order. I'm warning you. You wouldn't leave one of your men behind, I'm not leaving you, and that's final." She knows of course that he could order her, he outranks her, but she is sure that he won't do that, because he knows that she would not follow that order. Court martial be damned.

Steve smiles at his friend, he knew that it was a long shot anyway, that she would never leave him, "I at least had to try. Promise me you won't get killed."

"Only if you promise me first. Steve what does he want from you," while she is asking she helps him to sit up.

"I have no idea. Did you check the cabin for any weapons?" Steve is now taking in their surroundings.

"Yeah I did, nothing useful here. We left the harbor shortly after we were on board, any idea where we're going?"

"No, I have no information on Brown or his group. Don't know his connections or what he is up to. Can you help me up?"

"Where you wanna go? Door's locked."

"Nowhere just want to sit in the chair."

"Oh okay, you think you up for it?"

"Cath I have no choice, we were just taken by pretty ruthless people. If we want to have a chance at survival I need to get past my injuries. I can't do that while lying down in a comfy bed."

"You need to get uncomfortable to get comfortable," Cath is looking at him, like he just lost his mind.

"I need to push past the pain, I need to get access to my training and for that I need to get up. So please help me up so that I can try doing that. No idea if that will even work, my head is still pretty messed up."

When Cath presses accidentally on his broken ribs while helping him up, he almost falls back on the bed. White hot pain shoots through his chest and he is heavily leaning on Cath while he catches his breath.

"I'm sorry, you okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Let's figure out how best to move."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't walk alone, leg hurts too much and I'm dizzy. I need your help but I'm not sure I can raise my right arm enough to use your shoulder."

They tried that first but as soon as Cath has Steve's arm around her shoulder she presses against his right side and that is an absolute no go. He cries out in pain when her body is pressed against his ribs and hip, almost crumbles right there. That way they won't make it far.

"Maybe you can just go on my left and grab me at my belt on the right." Steve is getting dizzy and is glad when she grabs him at his belt and steadies him. After some more tries they figure out a way to walk without too much pain for Steve and the maximum support Cath is able to give.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Dr. Lynn please have a seat," Danny is indicating the couch in Steve's room, they are using the room as their base as long as they are at the hospital. All their equipment is there anyway so they have easy access to any necessary databases.

"Dr. Lynn you have access to the ICU?"

"Yes of course, that's basically where I work."

"I thought you work on this ward as Dr. Hope's assistant?"

"No my main field is the ICU, I only assist Mark on some cases, like Commander McGarrett, because he is a very unusual case and Mark thought I could greatly benefit from it."

"Benefit in what form?"

"I'm specializing in neurology and Mark is my supervisor, he is a great teacher."

"So Steve is a case study for you," Danny is getting angry now.

"No Detective, Cmdr. McGarrett is my _patient_. But his case is very interesting, and yes we do study cases in order to help people with similar problems. I don't think anything wrong with that, the next patient will benefit from it."

"Let's get back to the questions," Chin is trying to lead the investigation back to the case at hand.

"Dr. Lynn you were in the ICU one hour before McGarrett woke up and the system was down, you were also the one who took him into the elevator without his meds and you were there when he was taken."

"You think I have anything to do with any of that?"

"Yes we do and it would be best for you if you came clean right now," Danny is speaking to her with a voice he reserves for just the worst criminals. He just wishes McGarrett were there to make the face fitting for his voice.

"I don't know why you think I have anything to do with that, I swear I don't know what you're talking about. Why would I want to harm Commander McGarrett, I didn't even know him before he came here. I don't understand. Yes I made a terrible mistake taking him off his meds, even though it would only take a minute to go down to OR, but that was just a mistake, I so very much regret. Because of me he was in so much pain, I can't tell you how sorry I am about that. Please you have to believe me, I didn't do anything on purpose to harm him. I never would harm a patient."

She is either a very good actress or she is just simply telling the truth. Danny tends to believe her and one look at Chin shows him that he does too. Over the years he developed a sense to know if someone is lying or not, and Dr. Lynn is not.

"Dr. Lynn can you remember anything unusual when you went with Philip to get McGarrett down to the MRI?"

"Unusual? Well when we got into the room he and his Girlfriend were just about to leave the room."

"Leave? Where were they going?"

"Lieutenant Rollins said something about a friend next door who they wanted to see before he was released today. I assured them that he would not leave the hospital before one pm. Then we left and got into the elevator."

"Why did you use the one for the visitors, why not the other one?"

"Because one is still shut down and since McGarrett was not in a bed I thought we might as well use that one. I don't know I just didn't think anything about it. Why wouldn't we use that one?"

"Because only that elevator is connected to the parking levels. Where the attack happened. If you were in the other elevator they wouldn't have access to him."

"But no one knew that we would not use the patient elevator, if the Commander were still in bed we would have used the patient one. I didn't even know that he was up and in a wheelchair until I got into the room. It doesn't make any sense that the attack was planned that way, because there was no way to know that he would be in that elevator. He would normally still be in bed and transferred to any other station with his bed, not in a wheelchair."

"Danny she's right, Steve was not supposed to be out of bed. Dr. Hope told him that he is not supposed to get up unless to use the bathroom."

"Dr. Lynn is it possible that if Steve were still in bed, that Philip would have put him in a wheelchair to get him down?"

"Philip? No way, he would have taken him down in bed. There is no reason to get the Commander out of his bed."

"Can you get us a list of all the patients who will be released today? Maybe we can find out who they wanted to see."

"Yes of course, the nurse station will have that information. Am I free to go or do you have any more questions?"

"No Dr. Lynn you can go, please talk to no one what we talked about."

"Of course not. I hope you find the Commander soon, he really shouldn't be up and running around."

Dr. Jenna Lynn left them with the promise to be back in a minute with the list of the patients who will be released today.

"I think she has nothing to do with this, Chin what do you think?"

"I agree, we don't have any evidence to link her to anything, I think it's coincidental that she was always nearby."

Dr. Lynn is back with the list. A very short one, only one name on it. Agi Nakamura.

"I don't believe this, Nakamura is right next door."

Special Agent Scott Mountin enters just as they are about to leave to meet with Kono and to see Mr. Nakamura. "Scott any news?"

"Hey Chin, no not on the kidnapping, but the ICU incident is solved. It has nothing to do with Commander McGarrett well at least not directly. HPD just arrested Kim Solo for the murder of his father-in-law, he was the man who died during the time the system was down. Solo already confessed to the crime. His wife was after the money and didn't want to wait any longer, since daddy was to make a full recovery."

"So it was just bad luck for Steve?"

"I'm not so sure about that, he had an accomplice, a nurse helped him to get access to the system. Her motive is still unclear, he didn't pay her anything and she offered her help. I already arranged for questioning her, but she is not here and not at home. We have an APB out on her."

"Her? Who is it?"

"Stephanie Dobendan, one of the nurses of the night shift."

"Steve didn't like her at all, he said she makes him uneasy, he didn't want to be left alone with her, so Cath stayed the nights. Guess his feeling about her was right."

"Did he know her before he got here?"

"No he said she looked at him strange and that she always wanted to touch him. And she got into some kind of argument with Catherine, when he didn't call her to help him, but asked Cath to do it. It got a bit ugly and as far as I know she was switched to another ward after Steve complained about her."

"He filed a complaint about her? When was that?"

"I think yesterday, at least last night Dorothy was here. No Stephanie in sight anymore."

"Well we will know more when we can question her. Did you hear anything from the Admiral, is he willing to help now?"

"We were actually on our way to meet with him and a guy from NI to get additional information when Steve was taken. So we came here first."

"Admiral Davies didn't tell me you were supposed to meet him, I just got off the phone with him when I informed him that Commander McGarrett is missing again. Who made the appointment?"

"Some ensign called and said that he wanted to meet us this morning. The call came from the command center. Why?"

"I think that was part of the plan, to get you away from Steve, so that they didn't have to deal with you as well. I still need to question my man who was supposed to be on the floor and watch the Commander."

"Where was he?"

"He was called off the security detail, he got a call from HQ."

"How is that possible? How can they have such connections to the communication center, to your HQ, to the Navy. Who are these people?"

Agent Mountin has no time to answer, because Kono is storming into the room.

"Guys we have a lead. We have a witness who saw Steve and Cath at the marina."

"What?"

"I don't know any specifics, come on let's go down there."

H50 – H50 – H50

The door to the cabin swings open with such force that it bangs against the wall. In the door stands Jefferson and one of his man.

"Get up, we're leaving. Move it."

Cath helps Steve to stand up and supports as much of his weight as she can, she knows that the pain he is in got worse the last half hour. They make it out of the cabin but next they face an impossible hurdle, the stairway to the deck is too small for two people, Cath can't support Steve on it.

"You better move it now, or my friend here is going to help you along."

Steve really doesn't want his help so he grabs the railing and hauls himself up. He is halfway up the steep stairway when he sways dangerously, but Cath is right behind him and grabs him to steady him. She practically pushes him up the rest of the way. When they reach the top they are both panting and Steve is heavily leaning on her, she tries her best to keep him upright.

"Please he needs a little break," Catherine is pleading with them, she really thinks that he will keel over any second.

"Nice try, and so realistic. Your friend only waits for us to get near him so he can kill us. Will probably do it with his pinky finger. Commander you may have fooled your friend, but I know what you are capable off, now move it along," he is not coming any closer is just waving with his gun to move along.

Steve was hoping that they would buy that he really is as incapacitated as Cath was trying to sell them. But they obviously did their homework. So he stops leaning on Cath so heavily and makes his way further down the gangway, at the end of it he leans against the wall and awaits further instructions. There doesn't seem any opening for him to attack their kidnappers, so he just bides his time.

"You two wait there, don't move. You don't go near the Commander, if he moves shoot her," Jefferson is addressing his man.

Steve is leaning his head back against the wall and is trying to will the nausea to abate, his head is picking this moment to assault him with the burst of pain, dizziness and nausea he has to endure every few hours. He is slowly sliding down the wall, not being able to keep on his feet.

Cath is helping him to slide down without injuring himself.

"Steve what's wrong," she is whispering to him while she kneels down next to him.

"Dizzy, head hurts," Steve is trying to breathe through the pain that is threatening to swallow him.

Cath knows that he is being assaulted by severe pain, something she knows he has to endure for weeks to come. She had to live through this twice before and it always breaks her heart to see him in such agony and that there is nothing anyone can do about it. She gently caresses his forehead and cheek, she whispers into his ear but knows that nothing is going to ease his pain. He feels extremely warm to the touch and she is sure that his temperature is on the rise again. She just doesn't understand why he has a fever for a week now and why they didn't get it under control in the hospital. Just to underline her words he starts to cough again. She knows that he would be so much better and his head would have cleared up way more if he was not also battling this cold. Steve almost never gets sick, but when he does, he doesn't do it halfway. Thankfully the pain attacks never last long, mostly only a few minutes. After just two minutes he is again left with just the painful hammering in his head that is still as strong as it was the first day he woke up.

"You feel better," Cath is still whispering, not willing to share any of this with the goon who is standing a few yards away. She is not sure if she should laugh about that they think Steve could kill them with just looking at them, or if they know better than she does and Steve really is capable of much more than she thinks he is in the state he is in.

"Yeah, help me up please?"

Together they manage to get Steve back on his feet just as Jefferson is coming back.

"Okay let's go, boat's here."

They are led to the back of the yacht where there is a divers-platform. From there they can easily transfer to a small speed boat. Steve is roughly pushed down on one of the seats and his right hand is cuffed to the railing, which leaves him pretty much defenseless since his other arm is in the cast. It only takes another minute before they speed away. Not a pleasant experience to speed over the water, since every wave they hit sends shock-waves through his battered body. If it goes on for any length of time he is sure that he will puke on the nice leather seats. He tries to close his eyes against the bright sun but that makes the dizziness worse so he keeps his eyes open and tries to see where they are going.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>So now of course as always a little peek into the next one.<strong>_

**Chapter 28 - Marooned**

Steve is heavily leaning on Cath and this time it's not for show, he really doesn't know how much longer he will be able to stay upright. His leg is screaming at him, every step he takes is accompanied by searing hot pain that shoots up from his ankle to his knee. He knows that he is not supposed to walk on his leg like he does, his bones are not stable in any way. The breaks are very close to each other, his ankle is fractured on the outside of his foot and the tibia is broken very close to the ankle. He knows because of his previous injuries and the position of the breaks he is at risk to lose range of motion in his ankle. If he keeps running around like this, and keep bumping his leg like back in the van, he will have to pay the prize for it later.


	28. Chapter 28 Marooned

**Chapter 28 - Marooned**

Danny parks his Camaro right in front of the landing pier. Kono and Chin are right behind him, together they make their way down to the small group of officers talking to a civilian.

"Officer Smith?"

"Yes Sir?"

"I'm Detective Danny Williams, you called in that you have a witness who saw our two missing persons?"

"Yes Sir, this is Sid Eos, he saw the Commander," Officer Smith indicates the witness, a man in his forties, he obviously wanted to get onto a boat to leave the harbor, if his clothes are any indication.

"Mr. Eos can you tell us what you saw?"

"I was on my boat at the end of the pier when the black van stopped at the pier, the sliding door was opened and the two men spoke to the people inside the van. I was wondering why anyone would be in the back of the van, I mean there are no seats in it. Then the tall man reached into the van and then I could see two people. A women and a man, the man was hurt, he had his leg and arm in a cast. And then one of the men grabbed the injured one and put him over his shoulder. I thought that must really hurt to be handled so roughly, they were walking down the pier to a yacht. I think the injured man was unconscious, he really didn't look good. I hid on the boat because I thought that this was not right and I didn't want them to see me. A minute later they were on their way. One of the men got off the boat and drove away in the van."

"Why didn't you call the police right away?"

"I did! I told them that I'm sure that I witnessed a kidnapping but they just kept me on hold and finally I talked to someone who was willing to listen."

"Mr. Eos do you know the name of the yacht?"

"Yes of course it's always lying here. It's the 'Nakamura 2', it the small one, haven't seen their really big one in days, I think it's almost a week now. Maybe they have one of their parties on it, out at sea, they often do that."

"You know the owner?"

"No not really, they are some Japanese business men, but they very often have some kind of event on their yacht. Some very strange people are coming and going, but they always keep to themselves."

"Kono call the Admiral tell him about the yacht, we need to know where it is."

"Already on it Danny," she was dialing as she speaks.

"Mr. Eos I like you to go with Officer Smith to give an official statement and please stay with the police until we can get to you again. It's for your own safety."

"You think they're coming after me?" Mr. Eos looks at Danny with a bit of worry in his face.

"I don't know, but we will protect you. Please go with Officer Smith."

Smith and Eos are leaving and Kono just finished the phone call to the Navy.

"Admiral Davies will call us as soon as he knows where the yacht is. Danny this makes no sense, why are they using a boat? I mean they are very vulnerable on it, it's easy to trace and they are kind of trapped on it as soon as the Coast Guard will decent on them."

"It's strange isn't it? Unless they are not on the boat. What if they got off?"

"Why would they get on the boat in the first place if they would get off shortly after?"

"That's their plan, to let us think they are on the boat and let us pursue that, while they are somewhere else. Don't you think it was way too easy for Mr. Eos to witness all that and not get killed? Those people are professionals, they wanted him to see and report it. Kono tell the Coast Guard to get on that boat with extreme caution, I think they are going to blow it up in the hope that we think Cath and Steve are dead."

"Danny don't you think that is a bit far-fetched? Isn't that a bit too elaborate?"

"No I don't think so, they know that we will look under every stone in Hawaii to find Steve and Cath, unless we think they are dead."

"We need to know if they left the yacht. Any chance that the Navy has surveillance of the area they are in, when we know where they are?"

"I don't know, Cath would know. We could ask David, he might be of help."

"Do that Chin, call him and let's see if we can find our wayward leader."

H50 – H50 – H50

Their leader does not have a good time. It gets more and more difficult to breathe; every wave they are hitting is jostling his hurt ribs and makes it really hard to get enough air into his lungs. His vision is graying and he knows it's only a matter of time before he passes out again. But just as he thinks that he can't take it any longer they come to a stop, they reached a small private pier. His handcuffs are opened and Cath helps him to stand up, to get off the boat is not as easy as getting on it. Steve stumbles and would have fell flat on his face if it weren't for Cath who is holding on to him and keeps him from falling down.

Steve is heavily leaning on Cath and this time it's not for show, he really doesn't know how much longer he will be able to stay upright. His leg is screaming at him, every step he takes is accompanied by searing hot pain that shoots up from his ankle to his knee. He knows that he is not supposed to walk on his leg like he does, his bones are not stable in any way. The breaks are very close to each other, his ankle is fractured on the outside of his foot and the tibia is broken very close to the ankle. He knows because of his previous injuries and the position of the breaks he is at risk to lose range of motion in his ankle. If he keeps running around like this, and keep bumping his leg like back in the van, he will have to pay the prize for it later.

Cath is bearing more and more weight of Steve and she knows that he won't be able to go on much further. She can only imagine how terrible painful it must be to walk on the fractured leg.

They finally reach the house that stands in the middle of a huge property, which is not visible from the waterfront. Jefferson opens a big glass sliding door and waves them in.

"Michael please bring the Commander and Lieutenant Rollins into the guest room upstairs. We will be back for you in an hour. I will send someone upstairs who will give you something for your pain."

Steve is sure that he will not make it up the stairs, but before he can even give it a second thought Michael has him over his shoulder again and carries him up the stairs. He can't suppress the scream when Michaels shoulder presses into his lap and aggravates the pain he just got under control. His head is hanging upside down again and the blood rushes into his head and intensifies the pain to a level he can't take for long, it only takes a few seconds for him to pass out again.

Michael lays him surprisingly gently on the bed and leaves them alone.

"Steve? Come on, wake up. Steve," Cath is gently stroking his head and is trying to rouse him, it only takes a minute for him to come around again.

"Cath?"

"Hey, how are you doing, you okay?"

"Hmmmm, I'm dizzy, he needs to stop hanging me upside down."

Before Cath can say anything the door opens and reveals 'Stephanie'.

"Commander, Lieutenant Rollins."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Catherine is not happy to see her.

"At the moment I'm just here to help. Commander I know you're in a great deal of pain, I have some meds for you. I assure you they are originally sealed, they are just painkillers. You know how to use them. I will leave them here for you, I suggest you use the oral painkillers for later, take the stronger stuff first. There is something for your cold as well, I suggest you take it. I will be back later."

She doesn't even wait for an answer but leaves with the goon who was with her, to keep an eye on the prisoners.

Cath is checking the meds and can't find any tampering with the packaging.

"Steve I think we should use them, it makes no sense to go through all this trouble if they wanted to poison or drug you. They could just come in and do that. Steve?"

Steve has his eyes closed, he is debating to take the offered drugs or not. He knows that he can't function with the pain his leg is causing him. He can't think clearly, the pain radiating up his leg is all consuming and the wild fire in his lower belly is not helping matters.

"Okay, give me one of the syringes. The medium one."

"You know how to use them?"

"Yeah they are ready to use, we always had them in the field. Give me one of the wipes."

Steve is pulling up his shirt and cleans a patch of skin next to his naval with the alcohol wipes, next he clears the syringe of any air and pushes the needle into the muscle of his upper belly and pushes the plunger of the syringe down. He pulls the now empty syringe out and gives it back to Cath.

"They take a few minutes to start working but they are easy to use, much easier than an intravenous injection. They will work for about five to six hours, we always had them in our medical kits, they are effective, easy to use and work for a pretty long time. They are not on the free market, they must have gotten them from a military supplier."

Steve lays on the bed and waits for the drugs to do their work, he doesn't have to wait long. Cath can pinpoint the second the drugs are starting to work, the pain lines which were almost permanently on his forehead for the last hour disappear and his breathing is finally not as erratic as it was.

"Steve you feel better?"

"Yeah, I can finally breathe again. My leg starts to get bearable, Cath I think I really hurt my leg when he let it drop."

"Not much we can do about it right now. Just rest for a while, we have a few minutes before they'll be back. I'm going to check if we can use anything in here."

Steve knows that he should get up and check the room himself but his head is not taking kindly to all the abuse it was subjected to in the last hours. His headache has increased with every passing minute and he is not able to get up, he is dizzy and fighting against a bout of nausea. He is trying to stay awake, but he doesn't have a chance. His eyes close on their own accord and when Cath is looking his way she can't say if he simply fell asleep or if he passed out again.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading and all the comments. They really make my day!<strong>_

_**And again a little peek into the next one.**_

**Chapter 29 - Just six days?**

Six days. Steve can't really believe that it was six days ago that all this started. And he still doesn't even know what 'this' is. He still has no idea what Brown wants with him, why he was taken the first time. He figured it must be pretty important to him, since he got to great lengths to get him a second time right out of the hospital. That was a very risky and bold move.

Steve tries to listen to any sounds in the room, but he can only hear Cath who is rummaging in the room. Obviously looking for anything useful. He really wished that she was not here. She is a liability, he knows it and she knows it, even though they are not talking about it. Brown can easily use her against him. Of course the alternative is way worse. He remembers vividly the few seconds before he passed out in front of the elevator when he thought that Cath was shot. If she wouldn't have gone with them, he is sure that they would have just shot her. The thought to lose her like that lets him shudder.


	29. Chapter 29 Just six days ?

**Chapter 29 - Just six days?**

Six days. Steve can't really believe that it was six days ago that all this started. And he still doesn't even know what 'this' is. He still has no idea what Brown wants with him, why he was taken the first time. He figured it must be pretty important to him, since he got to great lengths to get him a second time right out of the hospital. That was a very risky and bold move.

Steve tries to listen to any sounds in the room, but he can only hear Cath who is rummaging in the room. Obviously looking for anything useful. He really wished that she was not here. She is a liability, he knows it and she knows it, even though they are not talking about it. Brown can easily use her against him. Of course the alternative is way worse. He remembers vividly the few seconds before he passed out in front of the elevator when he thought that Cath was shot. If she wouldn't have gone with them, he is sure that they would have just shot her. The thought to lose her like that lets him shudder.

"Steve, are you awake? What were you just thinking," Cath is looking at Steve, who just grimaced not in pain, but what she can only describe as horror.

When hearing Cath addressing him, Steve opens his eyes and seeks her out. He can see her concerned face and again is amazed how well she knows him. And after all the stuff he dragged her through she is still there at his side. Like she was the last ten years. She helped him through every crisis he had to face, through all his bad times. _Oh come on there were good times as well_, the little voice in his head is telling him. Like the two weeks in Australia. _Yeah right it was probably always her dream to get stung by a jellyfish._ Well that was bad luck, but the rest was great. Or all the other vacations they took, they always managed to get leave together. He wondered if the Admiral had anything to do with that. He never questioned it, he just took it as a good fortune.

"Hey you with me or are you daydreaming, Steve?"

"Sorry was just thinking."

"Yeah, about?"

"Let's talk about that later, not here."

"Okay. Can you get up, I like to show you something."

Steve just now becomes aware of how he is laying on the bed. Cath had not just elevated his broken leg but also put some pillows under his thighs, so that his legs are slightly bent and there is no strain on his belly, which still hurts from all the abuse of the kicking and being carried over one's shoulder. He smiles at her for thinking about his injuries and trying to make him as comfortable as possible. He knows that she must be scared, she is a trained Naval Officer, but she never left her desk and was out in the field. She was the Communication Officer, Adviser, and Observer on some of his missions, but she never ever left the OPS Center for that. But he knows that she can take care of herself, he made sure that she got the training for that. He taught her the basics himself, not that he insisted on it but she wanted to and he was happy to oblige to her wishes. Those were fun sessions, not the one where she knocked him out, but all the other ones. He can't suppress the chuckle when he thinks about her face when he went down after she kicked him square in the face. Blood was everywhere and he was sure that she broke his nose, which she didn't. But he was down for the count and when he came to he was so proud of her. She took out a SEAL, not something that anyone ever did before. Okay it might have helped that he was slightly distracted by what she was wearing for their session, he realized too late that that was her intention. But she did the kick and it did take him out. After that he was wearing protective gear just like she did from the beginning.

"Cath, you know you're doing really great."

"No I'm not, I'm scared shitless," Cath admits her fears.

"It's okay to be scared, but you're handling it really well. I'm scared too, it would be stupid not to. Fear is a natural instinct you just have to use it to your advantage and you're doing just that."

Cath is looking at him while she is getting all the pillows out of the way she gathered around him. She can clearly see him wincing when he stretches his legs out, she knows that his lower belly must really hurt him. She didn't really see where he was kicked when they were fighting by the elevator but she is sure that it was really low.

"How's your leg?"

"Good, drugs are working."

Steve is now sitting on the edge of the bed and tries to get his bearings. He his slightly dizzy but not so much that it would hinder him from getting up.

"We need to find something that we can use as a sling, it's not easy to hold my arm up."

"In the closet are sheets we can use," Cath already has one out and is trying to rip a strip out of it, "why is it always so easy in the movies to rip something apart? This is not working."

"You need to get a little tear in it first, see anything sharp here, any sharp edge?"

She stands on the edge of the sheet and just pulls at it with all her might and finally it gives way. She can now rip a nice strip out of it and is just ready to make a makeshift sling out of it when the door opens again to reveal Stephanie.

"They will get you in a few minutes. I figured it would be really hard for you to keep your arm comfortable, with a sling it won't hurt so much. You can put it on yourself."

Cath and Steve are looking at her while she lays the sling on the bed and is leaving again with her 'bodyguard'.

"I wonder what her role in all this is," Cath gets the sling and carefully takes Steve's arm and puts it into the sling. She adjusts the strips, "How's that? Is it okay like that?"

"Yeah it's good. You wanted to show me something."

"Come here look out the window," she helps Steve over to the large window front. "There are no guards in the garden, I haven't seen anyone outside. See the chopper over there? Do you think you could fly it if we could get to it?"

Steve looks at Cath and has to silently laugh at her. Maybe it's her optimism, her enthusiasm or just plain stupidity, he really can't say, but he finds it endearing.

"No! To fly a helicopter you need two arms, there is no way I could fly that thing with just one. If I could bend my arm, than it might be possible, but there still is my leg, I need two feet for flying and I don't know how long my leg would hold. But I can't bend my elbow so there is absolute no way for me to fly it. Sorry."

"Okay so that option is out, but maybe we could get down to the pier there is still the boat."

"Cath, there might be no one in the garden but I'm sure they have the premises secured. We will not get away like that, not with my leg in a cast. But you could. . ."

"Forget it, we already discussed this, I'm not leaving without you. So either you manage to come with me or we stay here."

Steve is just about to answer her when the door opens and Michael is coming in. He doesn't say anything, he doesn't need to; the waving of his gun is loud and clear. Cath is again on Steve's left side, grabs his belt and they are on their way to meet Webster Brown. At least they think that they will finally meet him.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny feels completely useless. He is standing in the Five-0 HQ at their high tech computer table and is waiting for Kono or Chin to come up with any answers. He got a list of all the properties of Agi Nakamura on the islands, but no judge is willing to give them any warrant to search the premises just because one witness allegedly saw Steve and Cath disappearing on one of his yachts. The Navy was no help in locating said yacht yet. Of course they are still hoping to hear from them, but Danny is sure that his friends are not on it anyway.

They went back to the hospital to interview Nakamura, only to learn that he was released a few minutes earlier.

So far all their investigations into the Nakamura Foundation and Dr. Hope or Webster are a dead end. Nothing of use came up. As far as they know there is no connection between any of them.

"Danny I just spoke to Dr. Hope, Philip is out of surgery. It went better than expected," Kono is smiling, she still remembers telling his wife about Philip getting shot and hopes that she'll get the good news.

"Can we talk to him?"

"No they put him in a coma. One bullet was lodged in his brain, they don't even know if he will have massive brain damage or if he will survive. They were able to get both bullets out, the other one was in his lung. But it's 50/50 at best."

"Damn."

"Danny I don't know why, but I'm sure he has nothing to do with this. Do we have more information on Stephanie?"

"No she just disappeared. Chin is trying to get some background on her. Kono can you pull up all the locations of the Nakamura houses onto the map of the islands?"

"Yeah sure no problem."

After just a few minutes all the premises owned by Nakamura are on the big screen.

"Take everything off that doesn't have access to the water."

"OK, that leaves 8 properties, three on Oahu, two on Maui, two on The Big Island and one on Molokai."

"Molokai? That's where all this began, do you think that was their destination?"

"I don't know, but it's too far away, they wouldn't go there on a small boat. I think they stayed on Oahu."

"So let's take a closer look to the three here on the island. Can we get actual satellite pictures from David?"

"We can ask him."

"Do that, I'm going to talk to Admiral Davies, we need more information on what Steve was supposed to do. We need the Intel on Brown and his group, there is just nothing there on which we could base our investigation. I just don't understand their secrecy. I mean we're talking about the lives of two of their officers."

Danny doesn't wait for Kono to say something about it, he has his phone out and is dialing the Admiral and storms into his office.

"Hey Cuz what's with him," Chin is just coming out of his office.

"He's just frustrated that he didn't get any warrants. And that we still don't know where Steve might be. Look at this we think they might be on one of the Nakamura properties. Can you call David and ask him for Satellite pictures?"

"He is off duty, it will take him at least an hour to get to the base, if he even can get access to his work station, but I'll try. Oh here is the info on Stephanie give it to Danny please. I'm going to call David," with that he is again back at his office.

"Danny did you get Davies?" Danny's back but not looking happy.

"Yeah he is coming by, he didn't want to give me anything on the phone. He'll be here in half an hour. Did Chin get anything on Stephanie?"

Kono put the flash drive into the computer and the file of Stephanie appears on screen.

"She is thirty-two? I wouldn't have guessed that. She was married to Lt. Dan Mills, US Navy, who died in Afghanistan one week after they got married in 2008."

"How did he die?"

Kono is switching to the file of the husband, a picture of a good looking blond man appears on the screen, Kono is reading the file on her computer screen.

"Lieutenant Dan Mills died at age 29. . .ah damn, Danny he was killed by friendly fire. It says here that Mills was at fault, he panicked and ran into the line of fire, his team mates were cleared of all charges. He took seven bullets, three from two men of his team the rest was from the enemy. The shooters were identified and found not guilty. Ensign Angus Perez and Lieutenant. . .Danny it was Steve."

"What? He shot her husband? How can he not know her? As I know Steve he would have gone to her. As Mills CO it would be his duty to inform her of the incident, and he would never neglect his duty. Why doesn't he know her?"

"I don't know Danny, maybe she didn't want to see him. Imagine to shoot one of your team mates even if it is not your fault. That must be so terrible."

"Yeah it must be. Kono do we have a file on Perez?"

"Oh god Danny he is dead, died 4 weeks ago. Overdosed on pain meds. Investigation is still going. They still haven't figured out where he got the drugs. He used something that is only supplied to the military, it's a highly controlled substance you cannot get it on the free market. And up till now there is no batch missing."

"What kind of drug?"

"It says her that it is a fast acting pain reliever, comes in ready to use syringes. Was designed in the nineties for use in the field. It's very effective but easy to overdose, too much in too short a time causes kidney failure and cardiac arrhythmias. Perez took two doses and died of heart failure."

"They give something like that out to use in the field by untrained people?"

"No Danny the people who would have access to those med kits are highly trained. You have any idea how much medical training someone like Steve has? He can probably do surgery out in the field. That drug is designed for the worst case scenarios, not for your common ache. Its distribution is highly controlled and Perez should not have get his fingers on it."

"You think Stephanie could get access to it? I think Perez was killed by her and now she is after Steve."

"Well then maybe it's a good think that he is not in the hospital anymore where she could give him the drug. If that is her weapon of choice."

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Oh oh, that doesn't sound too good for Steve! Ah damn and there I was thinking the baddies had Steve's best interest in mind when they helped him with his pain. Damn!<strong>_

_**Here we go with a little sneak peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 30 - ****A lot to talk about**

Danny is looking up from his desk when he notices someone standing at the table in the bullpen of their HQ. He is leaving his office to greet the newcomer, a woman in her late fifties or early sixties, hard to tell.

"I'm Detective Williams, can I help you?"

"Oh hello Detective, I'm Jo-Beth Jordan, I was at the hospital where I was told that Steve and Cath are missing. I was wondering if I can be of any help?"

"I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?"

"Oh I see Steve never mentioned me, did he? Well I know a lot about you Danny, may I call you Danny? You can call me Jo-Jo by the way, everyone does, guess it's natural to get that nickname if your name's Jo Jordan. Took Steve a few years to finally call me that, funny story, should tell you about it someday. I'm sorry what was your question?"

Danny instantly likes her, she is babbling away, her speed with which she is talking is even worse than his own, "You're Steve's therapist. It's nice to meet you, even though we didn't even know that Steve would ever set foot in a therapist's office."

"Oh yeah how we met is another long story," she is now smiling at the Detective.


	30. Chapter 30 A lot to talk about

_**Are you ready to meet the one behind everything? You sure? Well OK then, let's meet him.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 30 - A lot to talk about<strong>

Michael follows them out the room and to the stairway that leads to the now empty living room. No one is down there yet. The way down the stairs is not easy for Steve, even with the pain meds in his system he can still feel the pain flaring up in his ankle. Every step feels like the bones are getting crunched, the longer he stays on it the worse it gets. He doesn't even want to think about how his leg would feel like if he were not on the strong pain killers. Normally he would just shut the pain out and ignore it, but he is still not able to control his thoughts, he always strays back to the pain. His brain is still not working like he wants it to, his thought process is still slow and he still has trouble following a conversation. He knows that his head is a long way from functioning normal, he just hopes that he will be fit enough to get Cath and himself out of this mess alive. They are on the middle of the stairs when he can feel his headache is about to spike, he gets dizzy and needs to close his eyes against the intense pain. The intervals in which the pain assaults him are getting shorter and the attacks are lasting longer. He knows that he should not be up at all, he should lie in bed and do nothing. He is sure that when Doctor Hope said he could get up, he didn't have any island hopping in mind. He knows that no matter what Doc Hope's involvement in all this might be, that he only has his best interest in mind. Hope told him in no uncertain terms that he suffered a very serious head injury. Steve can still remember his last Navy Doctor who told him that his next serious head injury might very well be his last. But so far he was always lucky, his symptoms always went away after a while, but the pain was never this bad and the attacks were never this vicious and so frequently. He didn't tell Danny but after he screamed at him, the level of constant pain he is in went up a notch and did not lessen yet. He is swaying and stops their decent halfway down.

"I need to stop," he whispers to Cath who tightened her hold on him a few seconds ago.

Cath lightly turns Steve so that he is in front and facing her while she is standing a step above him, "Lean against me, we'll ride it out, just breathe with me."

She can feel him tremble and knows that the pain in his head just reached a new high. She recognized a while back, still in the hospital, that the attacks are getting worse, that he is barely able to not pass out from them.

"Get moving," Michael is getting impatient.

Steve is groaning and just lies his head against Cath shoulder, he hangs on to her for dear life now, he knows that he is only seconds from blacking out.

"He can't. Please we have to wait a minute," Cath is now almost bearing Steve's full weight, she is doing everything to keep him upright she just can't let him fall down the stairs. She can only imagine what that would do to his injuries. After what seems like forever but is just a minute Steve is able to carry his own weight again. He is still leaning against her and his head still rests against her shoulder and he mumbles something into her clothes. She never heard him swear like this, she has to smile despite the dire situation they are in.

"You feel better," she is still whispering mindful of his noise sensitivity.

"Yeah let's keep moving before he loses his temper."

Steve is turning around again and they start their trek down the stairs anew. They reach the floor and are not sure what is expected of them so they just stand there.

"Please sit down on the couch, I'm supposed to ask you if you like something to drink or to eat."

They are both looking at him, they never heard about such nice kidnappers.

"Some water would be good," Steve tells him while lowering himself on the couch. Cath gets the couch table a little closer so that he can rest his leg on it, there even is a pillow they can put under it.

"Isn't this cosy," Jefferson is getting into the room and he doesn't look happy. Behind him is Stephanie who sends a murderous look Cath's way who is now sitting next to Steve.

"I take it you know each other," Jefferson looks from Stephanie to his two prisoners.

"From the hospital."

"You don't know me, you don't know what you did to me. But you'll know soon and you'll pay for it. And I will enjoy your suffering. You will be mine when they are finished with you and what you went through in the ICU and the elevator is nothing compared to what you will experience."

"That's enough. Stephanie go to your room. Now," a deep voice bellows from behind them.

"Yes Dad," Stephanie throws one more glance at Steve and Cath and is gone.

"Commander, Lieutenant I'm sorry about that. My daughter lost her mind a few years back when her husband was killed in action. But what can I say she is my daughter and I will grant her her wish, so I'm afraid you will be hers after we're finished. Now let's go to business."

"Are you sure she is the only one who lost her mind?"

"I'm warning you Commander don't think I will tolerate your behavior. Last warning. Next time you or your friend will pay the consequences. I don't care which of you, I'll let Jefferson decide that and he might get bored with you soon Commander. So I suggest you play nice." He is smiling while he is talking and he seems very calm and collected. Jefferson comes into view and his smile is not calm but one of gleeful anticipation.

"You Commander killed two people who were most important to me. You murdered my best friend."

"I never murdered anyone."

"You want me to tell you the exact number of people you killed while in the Navy? The number of people who are dead because of you? It's a pretty impressive number I must say. And I'm not even counting the ones who died since you're with Five-0. I can even tell you how you killed everyone, who you shot, which one you killed with your bare hands. But I think I spare your friend that list."

Steve doesn't show any emotion but his head is reeling and he tries to come up with a name to the face in front of him. He is pretty sure that he should know him.

"What do you want with me. If you want to kill me you could have done that last week."

"That went very unfortunate. It was never planned to fly into the no fly zone, that was a stupid mistake, but I think everyone paid their price for it. Don't you think?"

"You still didn't tell us who you are," Cath is listening to everything and can't make heads or tails out of anything. She knows that Steve did kill some people in the line of duty, that's part of the job, but he would never ever murder anyone.

"I'm sorry you're right. I'm Vitali Dobendan."

Suddenly Steve knows what this is all about.

"You're Yuri's silent partner, the one we could never tie to the crimes, you're the money behind his plans." It is clear to him that his friends will never find them, they are looking into the completely wrong direction. This has nothing to do with Nakamura, Wo Fat, The Deal, the Navy, Brown or anything that they investigated. This is just about vengeance.

"You went to all this trouble just to get me? To revenge his death? How did you get the prints of a dead man on that helicopter?"

"That is a long story, one I'm not in the mood of telling right now. But the important part is that it worked. Your friends and even the Navy are running around in circles. Investigating something that will never get them to me. While they are running around the whole island and looking into the Nakamura Foundation, by the way, a legit business, and trying to find Brown, who is dead for a few years now, I can spend my time with you. Completely undisturbed."

"I must say I'm impressed. You fooled the Navy into thinking that Brown's organization is back, you made them believe that I was snatched by the people I was supposed to infiltrate, which don't even exist. And you let me believe that Wo Fat was trying to harm my friends. You really went to great lengths. Why did you play such a dangerous game, why not just take me out or kidnap me?"

"Because I love a challenge. You are a very worthy opponent. You managed to destroy Yuri's organization which is the reason that I lost a lot of money. I couldn't just simply kidnap you, how boring would that be?"

Steve looks at Vitali and can only see a calm person but he knows that he is completely crazy, but he must admit a genius. He fooled everyone.

All the talking and concentrating is costing Steve a great deal, he is dizzy and nauseas, he is not sure if he can win the battle with his stomach. He can't help it he lies his head back and closes his eyes and is trying to will the nausea to go away. It's not helping that his back started to hurt a few minutes ago, it's a burning pain in his right side that is getting very uncomfortable. He feels sick and he is pretty sure that his temperature is way too high.

"Can we please have some water," Cath is looking with worry at her friend, she can feel the heat radiating off of him, his fever is still rising.

"Michael get them some water and juice."

"Yes Sir."

"We're going to give you a few minutes, then we will continue," with that Vitali leaves but Jefferson stays in the back of the room.

Cath is giving Steve some water but no juice, he couldn't keep that down yesterday and she really doesn't want him to throw up, "Steve how are you doing?"

"I'm sick. . .my back hurts. . .can't concentrate any more. . .head's gonna explode. . .," Steve is only whispering and has his eyes still tightly closed.

"Cath I'm so sorry. . .I should be able. . .to handle this. . .but I can't. . ."

"Hey you're doing great so far, you just need some rest, you will be fine," she's not sure if she tries to convince him or herself.

"No Cath. . .I knew this would happen someday. . .my head's not getting better. . .it's getting worse every day. . .I'm sorry. . .I can't take much more. . .when we get out. . .of this. . .I'm going to take…Dr. Hope up on his offer. . ."

"What are you talking about? Steve, what offer? What did you talk about with him? Steve?"

But Steve is not answering, he didn't mean to mention Dr. Hope to her. The room is spinning around him, he feels sick as a dog and his head is hammering so wildly that he is sure that they can hear it outside his head. When he opens his eyes again he can't focus he only sees blurry images and swirling colors.

"You wanna lie down?"

"No. . .just need. . .a minute," he lies his head back again and hopes that the blinding agony in his head will stop soon. For the first time he can understand the people who are suffering bad migraines and try to end the suffering by banging their heads against a wall. If he could he would probably do the same.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is looking up from his desk when he notices someone standing at the table in the bullpen of their HQ. He is leaving his office to greet the newcomer, a women in her late fifties or early sixties, hard to tell.

"I'm Detective Williams, can I help you?"

"Oh hello Detective, I'm Jo-Beth Jordan, I was at the hospital where I was told that Steve and Cath are missing. I was wondering if I can be of any help?"

"I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?"

"Oh I see Steve never mentioned me, did he? Well I know a lot about you Danny, may I call you Danny? You can call me Jo-Jo by the way, everyone does, guess it's natural to get that nickname if your name's Jo Jordan. Took Steve a few years to finally call me that, funny story, should tell you about it someday. I'm sorry what was your question?"

Danny instantly likes her, she is babbling away, her speed with which she is talking is even worse than his own, "You're Steve's therapist. It's nice to meet you, even though we didn't even know that Steve would ever set foot in a therapist's office."

"Oh yeah how we met is another long story," she is now smiling at the Detective.

"I bet. Please would you like to come into my office, we can talk there," Danny is leading her into his office and offers her one of the visitor chairs.

"Thank you Danny. I read Dr. Hope's medical file, Steve is seriously hurt you need to find him and get him back to the hospital."

"I know. Can I ask you something?"

"Yes of course that's why I'm here."

"I witnessed Steve having a panic attack. Does he have PTSD?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss Steve's medical history with you in detail. But no he does not have PTSD but he did suffer symptoms of ASD in the past but that was under very special circumstances and he does have that under control. He never required any medication or intense therapy for it. He passed every psych evaluation with flying colors. I'm only telling you this because I already discussed it with Steve and he is okay with it. I know you are worried about him and to see him like that must be kind of scary. But Danny that is just another side of him. And please don't worry his latest attack was triggered by the fever and the injuries especially his head injury. He never showed any signs after he recovered physically. One of the most important parts of PTSD is missing with Steve; his flashbacks only lasted for two weeks after the initial incident. I did diagnose him back then with Acute Stress Disorder. He is very aware that in his line of work he is at risk of developing ASD again, but he is taking very good care of himself. He learned a long time ago that the mind needs as much care as the body."

"So he is not going to freak out in the field?"

Dr. Jordan has to laugh a little at that, "No Danny I can almost guarantee you that Commander McGarrett is of very sound mind and in no danger of having such kind of psychological breakdown while he is working."

"Of sound mind? Now I like to see your license," but he can't keep the smile out of his voice, "He told us that he sees you twice a month since he is in Hawaii, he never mentioned you before."

"Yeah well he told me a lot about you. You are very often the topic of our conversations. We don't really do therapy sessions, it's more like talking about everything and nothing. Sometimes it gets intense but it is mostly very light. You should come someday," she is now openly grinning at him, of course she knows that Danny would never come see her.

"I like to ask you some questions about Steve's past, which might be related to him being kidnapped. If that is all right with you."

"Yes of course Danny, if I can help in any way, please ask away."

"Can you think of anyone who might want to kill Steve, who we would have no knowledge of?"

"Danny are you asking me about classified information here?"

"No I'm asking you to help me find my friend."

"Danny please believe me, Steve is my friend too. I'm much more than his psychiatrist, I've known Steve since his early days in Annapolis. I would like to do nothing more than help you find him but I can't give you any classified information. We can talk however about some things in general. You know what I mean?"

"Yes I do. Did Steve ever mention a Stephanie Mill?"

"She was the wife of Dan Mill, Steve was very sorry that she didn't want to speak to him after her husband was killed. You know that Steve was cleared of all charges?"

"Yes we read the report and it almost seems like Mill committed suicide. His teammates are not to blame."

"I felt the same way, of course it was very hard on Steve and Perez to have a hand in the death of a team mate. It didn't really help that he would have died even without their bullets. Steve tried several times to get in contact with Mrs. Mill, but she always refused. I think she lives now here with her father. He is some kind of business mogul with ties to Russia and the Far East. I don't know much about him, but Steve has mentioned him."

"In connection to Stepahnie?"

"No I think he was some kind of suspect. I can't tell you any specifics but Steve investigated a Russian organization, they were dealing in drugs and high power weapons. Steve and his team broke up their whole organization. It was a bit of a bloody mess, but they got tons of weapons out of terrorist's hands."

"I never heard of any weapon ring being busted."

"Danny you will never hear anything about an investigation done by Steve. They are all classified and Steve would never talk about what he did."

"He talks to you about it."

"Yes he does, but I'm sworn to secrecy and I'm working for the Navy."

"Do you know anything more about her father?"

"Not much, only that his name is Vitali. Steve mentioned him only in passing I don't know anything about him. Sorry. Why do you ask about Stephanie?"

"She was Steve's nurse and is now missing. Steve didn't recognize her but felt very uneasy around her and didn't want to be alone with her. We have an APB out on her, we like to question her in connection with a death in the ICU. Did you know that Perez died four weeks ago of a drug overdose?"

"What? Perez didn't do drugs. How did this happen?"

"He took too much pain reliever and died of heart failure. I think that Stephanie killed him."

"You think she is after Steve now?"

"Yes I do. We will now look into her father, if he got the means, than he might be the one behind all this. I think your input will give us a new angle on the investigation. Everything we found out up until now came to a dead end. It feels like we're running in circles."

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Well let's hope that Five-0 will be able to find a lead soon, doesn't look good for Cath and Steve.<strong>_

_**They seem to be on their own at the moment, hopefully Steve will be able to get the ninja in him out soon. ;-)**_

_**And as always a little peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 31 - Getting worse**

Steve is not answering; only looks at him, well Vitali didn't really expect an answer anyway.

"I'm going to tell you how this is going to go. I told you in the hospital that I need your help and that you should give it to me. I hope you spent some time thinking on that?"

"I don't even know what you want from me," Steve really has no clue as to what he could help him with.

"We're coming to that. But first let me tell your friend what a person you really are," he is looking at Catherine but still is directing his voice at Steve, "How you just killed my best friend." Vitali is obviously getting worked up, he is stepping closer and his voice is getting louder. "You shot him in the face!"


	31. Chapter 31 Getting worse

_**This is a pretty short chapter, so I will post the next one tonight. Thanks again so much for reading, commenting and all the alerts.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 31 - Getting worse<strong>

Steve talked about the severity of his pain attacks with Doctor Hope. Nor his team or Catherine have any idea how much he is really suffering, even in his momentary state he is still pretty good in keeping that from them. Well at least to a point. He knows what it does to Cath to see him in constant pain, how much she feels with him. How much she wishes she could help him. He is very aware that it breaks her heart to see him like this. That is the other reason why he is willing to take Doctor Hope up on his offer. But the main reason is just plain and simple that he can't take it any longer. His training taught him to take any necessary steps to reach his goal and at the moment his goal is to get rid of the debilitating pain that is slowly but surely driving him mad. Some may see him as weak that he is not able to keep going, but he is at a point where he just doesn't care anymore, he just wants the pain to stop. He doesn't care how it is done and the way Hope showed him is promising, no guarantees though. He already gave him his consent and it was scheduled to start today, unfortunately they were snatched before it could happen. He didn't talk to his team or Cath about it and he isn't going to, he asked Dr. Hope to explain it to them after the fact. He knows that they will oppose the idea and he is not able or willing to defend his decision so he will just beg their forgiveness afterwards. If there will be an afterwards, he knows that there are risks involved, but he is willing to take them. Anything is better than the state he is in right now.

He becomes slowly aware of his surroundings again, which means that his head didn't explode after all. Even though it sure still feels like it. He opens his eyes again and can finally see properly again, no swirling images like out of a modern art museum anymore. A quick look around shows him that they are still pretty much alone, Vitali is not back yet.

"Steve you have me worried, what were you talking about with Dr. Hope," Cath is only whispering in the hope that Jefferson won't hear them.

"Can I have some more water please," Steve hoped that Cath forgot about his slip, but no such luck, he is debating to tell her after all but that decision is taken out of his hand when Vitali is back.

"I hope you have somewhat recovered?"

Steve is not answering; only looks at him, well Vitali didn't really expect an answer anyway.

"I'm going to tell you how this is going to go. I told you in the hospital that I need your help and that you should give it to me. I hope you spent some time thinking on that?"

"I don't even know what you want from me," Steve really has no clue as to what he could help him with.

"We're coming to that. But first let me tell your friend what a person you really are," he is looking at Catherine but still is directing his voice at Steve, "How you just killed my best friend." Vitali is obviously getting worked up, he is stepping closer and his voice is getting louder. "You shot him in the face!"

Steve tries not to wince at the loud noise so close to him, but he can't suppress the sharp intake of breath, every screamed word is like a dagger into his head.

"You just blew his face off. You could have arrested him, or at least just wounded him, but you choose to kill him, you will pay for that."

Vitali is now pacing in front of the big glass window front, while Steve tries to stay focused. Not easy when his vision is blurring again and Vitali's pacing makes him dizzy, so he stops following his moves.

"Yuri was a weapons dealer who did not want to give up and he was killed in a firefight. I did not murder him," Steve doesn't even understand why he is defending himself. _Damn head_, his thoughts are drifting again he has great problems to stay focused, "What do you want my help with?"

"It took me two years to find out who was responsible for the breakdown of Yuri's Organization, two years to find out that you were the lead investigator and leader of the team who took him out. Imagine my surprise to find out that you were also responsible for the death of my son-in-law."

"He killed himself by running into the line of fire," Steve feels the need to clear that up, not that Vitali is interested in his opinion.

"My daughter sees that very differently and you will have to answer to her for that. But you killed my best friend, for a while I debated to just kill _your_ best friend or your lady friend here, or both. But I came to the conclusion that won't satisfy me, I want to see you suffer through my hand. I want to see you squirm under my torture and when I'm satisfied I want to see you to go through what my daughter has in mind for you."

Steve looks at Vitali and can't suppress a light shudder. Vitali speaks with total calmness, like he is discussing the weather.

"But before we start our little game, I want you to answer some questions for me. It took me forever to find out your involvement and it cost me a fortune, but I was not able to find out the names of your team members. I want you to give them to me. You should not pay alone for your crimes," Vitali is looking expectedly at Steve.

"Let me get this straight, you kidnapped me last Friday, when that failed you get me again today, you invented an incredible scheme to fool the Navy, me and my colleagues, you probably spend millions with this just to kill me and get the names of my team mates?"

"That about sums it up," he is smiling down at Steve and Cath.

"Imagine what you could accomplish if you put your energy into a legit business," Steve has to hand it to him, Vitali is a genius. He would probably solve a lot of the problems of the world if he were not so completely nuts. "Whose yacht were we on on Saturday?"

"Nakamura's, isn't it brilliant, we just high jacked the damn yacht, before they could even report it we blew it up. There will be no trace that leads to us."

Steve thinks about that for a few seconds and comes to the conclusion that Vitali is an idiot after all. Or he simply doesn't know that his daughter was his nurse at the hospital and that Steve filed a complaint about her because she totally creeped him out. So it is possible that Daddy has no idea in what kind of trouble his daughter is. That brings Steve to the realization that they are not in such a hopeless situation after all. Danny will investigate Stephanie, will make a connection to him and will investigate her father, they will check the properties and at some point they will check this house. Steve's mood just went up a notch.

That mood change don't last long though, Michael is back and he doesn't look happy at all. He whispers something to Vitali, that they can't hear but it lets Vitali almost explode.

"Get her down here now!"

"Trouble," Steve can't hold back.

"Shut up," Vitali all but screams at Steve who _is_ wincing this time.

It only takes a few seconds for Stephanie to appear.

"Did you switch wards at the hospital to be his nurse," Vitali is not calm and collected anymore, "Did you have your hand in the two incidents involving him?"

"Yes."

"You are so stupid, you're ruining everything, there is an APB out on you, and they will be here soon. Get out of my face before I'm forgetting myself. We need to leave now. Jefferson, watch them," Vitali is following his daughter up the stairs.

Jefferson still has that gleeful grin on his face when he comes closer, "I will have so much fun with your beautiful girl here," unfortunately Steve is reacting to the provocation.

"Don't you dare touch her," Steve knows that he is in no position to do anything but he cannot just sit idly by. His little outburst earns him a fist to his forehead, the blow is not even that hard, more like a light tab but enough for him to finally go over the edge. He very unspectacularly slides to the side and is unconscious before he can even blink.

H50 – H50 – H50

"How could you do this to me, how could you be so stupid and destroy all our plans?"

Vitali is livid with anger, he still can't believe that his so well planned revenge is jeopardized by his own daughter. By her simple stupidity.

"Didn't I tell you I will get him for you? Didn't I tell you you will get your chance to hurt him? Didn't I tell you that?"

"Yes Dad I know, but then suddenly he was at the hospital he was so close and I just had to do something. I'm sorry Daddy."

"The incident in the ICU what did you hope to accomplish by that? A man died and because of that they are after you and will find out about our relationship." Vitali is looking at his daughter in the hope to see some explanation, but she is just looking back at him with eyes that show her hate for the man who she thinks is responsible for the death of the love of her life. Vitali knows that McGarrett is not at fault concerning his death, but it's of no use to tell her that.

"I just wanted to see him suffer, and believe me, Dad, he did."

"Yeah well that only delayed our plans a day. And the elevator, he could have died in there. You're a nurse you should know how dangerous that was for him. How could you put our plans in jeopardy like that by almost killing him?"

"Why are we leaving Dad, they don't know about this house, I don't understand why we can't stay. They will not find me here."

"This is not about you anymore. They will learn about this house real quick, they will be on the front porch within the hour. We're talking about Five-0 and the Navy here. They will know by now that they were fooled up until now, believe me they will turn every stone on the islands to find their friends."

"We're taking them with us, right Dad?"

"No, we will leave them here and get to them later."

"But Dad, no, we can take him with us, kill his girlfriend, and please let's take him with us, please Daddy."

"No, believe me you will have much more fun with him, when he is not so badly hurt. He can barely stay awake, I doubt he could tell me the names even if he wanted to. We let them escape, get a bit better and then we will get them again. Well not them, but just him. Now get ready we need to leave soon."

Stephanie is very disappointed that she will not be able to torture the killer of her husband today. But she knows that her dad will get him again and that she will get her revenge. And he is probably right it will be much more fun when he is not already half dead.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>So now the action begins. Steve will not take kindly to people who are hurting his girl. :-)<strong>_

_**As always a little evil sneak peek into the next part:  
><strong>_

**Chapter 32 - Fight for it**

"Steve! Absolutely not, we wait right here for re-enforcement, where the hell is that phone?"

"You're right, _you_ wait here, _I_ take a look, keep down."

"What the hell is the matter with you? How can you even be upright? Steve stay back here."

"Adrenaline. Wonderful thing, very useful in the field. Stay behind the island, no matter what you hear. You do not come out of this kitchen."

"Steve please."

"Cath I know what I'm doing, I've done this for a living, OK? You stay here. And this time it is an order Lieutenant."

"Yes SIR."


	32. Chapter 32 Fight for it

_**It's time for our resident SEAL to come back! Go for it McGarrett.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 32 - Fight for it<strong>

Steve comes instantly to by the sound of someone hitting the floor. It takes him less than a second to realize that Cath was just thrown over the couch table by Jefferson. She hits the floor with a grunt and a thud. Steve is probably even more surprised than Jefferson that he jumps up off the couch and is in Jefferson's face, placing a blow against the throat that lets him stumble back. Steve doesn't even think; he whips around on his good leg and kicks him into the side, they both crash to the floor. The pain that explodes in his broken leg only fuels his rage against Jefferson, the guy that kicked him twice in the groin now; first on the yacht and then again at the elevator, but what lets him see red now is his girlfriend who he sees out of the corner of his eyes, trying to get up, dazed and a streak of blood running down the side of her head. Steve is kneeling on Jefferson and hits him in the face over and over again, almost in a blind rage. Even after he is not moving anymore he doesn't stop. He slowly becomes aware that Cath is trying to make him stop, he finally does. When he looks down he can see that he made a bloody mess out of Jefferson, who lays absolutely still, he doesn't even seem to breathe. Steve slowly sits back against the couch and tries to catch his breath that comes in painful pants now, his ribs are on fire and the pain in his leg is almost unbearable.

"Did you just do a roundhouse kick with a broken leg," Cath is incredulously asking Steve while she is checking Jefferson.

"He dead?"

"No he is still breathing. Steve you okay," she is now sliding over and checks him out. "Did he hit you again?"

"No. You're bleeding, did you hit your head?"

"I'm good, just a scratch."

"Where is everybody?"

"They are still upstairs, Michael left a few minutes ago. His daughter is not his contact at the hospital Steve, someone else is involved. She did all her stuff without him knowing about it. He is royally pissed at her. Can you breathe again, can you get up?"

Cath is helping him stand, now with the adrenaline of the fight fading he is swaying, suddenly doubles over and throws up. Since there is almost no food in him not much is coming out. But what came out is now decorating Jefferson.

"That was not nice," Cath has to laugh about his chosen target.

"Serves him right," Steve is coughing now and still slightly bent over, his vision is graying at the edges but he just ignores it and keeps going, "Let's get out of here, did you grab his gun and cellphone?"

Cath hands the gun over to Steve since he has one hand free, while she is trying to keep him upright she needs both hands for that job.

"No phone."

"Who doesn't have phone? You see one here?"

"No. Where do you want to go, the boat?"

"No, we need to call for help and try to stay alive long enough for them to get here. The boat is too far away and an easy target on the water."

"You want to hide somewhere outside?"

Before Steve can say anything about where to wait for the cavalry to arrive they smack into Michael when they round a corner. He recovers very fast and sinks his fist into Steve's stomach, Cath lets go of Steve who is sinking to the floor and sends a perfect kick at Michael who is too surprised by this new opponent to get any defenses up. Cath follows her kick with a hard blow to his nose, but he stays on his feet and is just about hitting her in the face when there is a gunshot that stops him cold. Right in the middle of his chest appears a red dot that is growing fast. He just has time to take one look before he crumbles to the floor. Steve is kneeling on the floor and holds the gun that just killed one of their kidnappers. Of course now everyone in the house knows that something is up. The fight with Jefferson was pretty quiet, no one heard that, but now they are busted.

"Cath take his gun and run. Please get out of here. Find a phone and call for help, you have to go," Steve is practically pushing her to the glass sliding doors that lead to the garden.

Catherine doesn't know what to do, listen to Steve and get the hell out of here or stay. She knows that he is probably right that they need help to get out of this, but she can't leave him behind, so she just grabs his right arm, puts it unceremoniously over her shoulder and howls him to his feet. Completely ignoring his cry of pain when she presses into his right side. She knows that she must hurt him tremendously but there is just no time for that right now, she can already hear a few people coming down the stairs. Steve is groaning loudly but he lets Cath drag him along. He has no idea where she is going, but it is obvious that she is not leaving him.

They are not getting very far and Cath realizes that she should have listened to Steve, he is the experienced one after all, but now it's too late. Steve is almost dead weight by now, she has no idea how much longer he can hang on. They are now in the kitchen, a dead end, there is no way out of there. Well at least they have some good cover behind the big cooking island. And there is a phone. Steve is sitting on the floor leaning against the stove when Cath shoves the phone in his hand, she is kneeling next to him and aims her gun at the door.

It only takes two rings to get connected.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is watching the interaction of Admiral Davies and JoJo, well Captain Jordan as he just learned. They seem to know each other for a long time.

Kono and Chin joined them a minute ago and Danny is just about to tell them what he learned from JoJo when his phone rings.

"Williams. Steve! Where the hell are you? Chin trace the call. Are you all right," Danny lies his phone down and puts it on speaker.

"We have no idea where we are, Stephanie's father got us, he's out for revenge, listen we're sitting ducks here, we managed to get two guns but we're running out of ammo real quick as soon as they find us."

"Steve listen we're tracing the call right now, we will be there soon, you hang in there okay?"

Steve is not answering, instead they hear coughing and groaning and Cath urging Steve to stay awake, "Steve come on don't do this now, you have to stay awake, oh no no no no no, Steve come on breathe. Oh shit, come on don't do this to me, breathe damn it."

"Catherine, Cath answer me, what's going on?"

But there is still no answer they only hear some rustling sounds like a body is dragged over the floor and some strange breathing sounds.

"She's doing CPR," JoJo whispers.

"Oh god Steve why aren't you breathing? Come on you're awake, breathe for me, please," they can hear a slapping sound and some more coughing.

"What? Why'd you hit me?"

"You stopped breathing, but you're awake, what's wrong? Steve?"

"Couldn't, was under water, no water's here?"

"What? Oh my god you're burning up," they could hear more rustling and suddenly Cath was on the phone loud and clear.

"Danny you have to hurry, please. This is really bad, help us."

They can hear the phone hitting the floor and some shots are fired, they feel totally helpless, they can only listen to their friends fighting for their lives while they are waiting to pinpoint their location.

"Chin what' taking so long," Danny is almost screaming at his collegue, they should have had the location a minute ago.

"The trace is still bouncing around, it takes more time. It's not a normal phone line."

They hear more shooting and screaming and then silence again.

"I told you to run when you had the chance, you'd be save by now," they can hear Steve whispering.

"I told you I'm not leaving you, will you stop it already, how often do I have to tell you", Cath is whispering right back.

"OK fine have it your way, now cover me, I'm going for the ammo."

"What? Are you nuts? Half a minute ago you weren't breathing and thought you were under water, what is it with you?"

"Now I am breathing and I'm obviously not under water, so I'm going for the ammo, now cover me, jeez you're worse than Danno."

If their friends weren't in a live and death situation the people in the Five-0 HQ would have found this audio play entertaining, but their friends could get killed any second so no one is laughing.

"How do you want to get to that dead guy anyway you can't even get up," it seems that Cath is getting very irritated.

"Sure I can, watch me."

"What the. . .how the hell do you do that? Steve! Come back here. I don't believe this. Great now I'm the back up, just great, next time I am leaving," Cath is still grumbling when Steve is back behind the cooking island, "You are completely nuts, you know that don't you?"

"What? Went without a hitch, look now we have more ammo and a machine gun."

"How did you. . .never mind."

"Do you hear anything? I think they left, we should take a look, come on let's go."

"Steve! Absolutely not, we wait right here for re-enforcement, where the hell is that phone?"

"You're right, _you_ wait here, _I_ take a look, keep down."

"What the hell is the matter with you? How can you even be upright? Steve stay back here."

"Adrenaline. Wonderful thing, very useful in the field. Stay behind the island, no matter what you hear. You do not come out of this kitchen."

"Steve please."

"Cath I know what I'm doing, I've done this for a living, OK? You stay here. And this time it is an order Lieutenant."

"Yes SIR."

"Cath. I'll be careful. I love you, please stay here", Steve is now begging her and she knows that he trusts her to stay where she is.

"I will. Don't get killed."

They hear some strange noises they can't identify and then Cath is back on the phone, "Danny where the hell are you guys, are you close by?"

"Cath no we still don't know where you are. What was that? Cath what's going on," they again can hear how the phone is dropped to the floor, they are still listening to a short firefight and then the phone is dead.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve is slowly creeping around the corner, gun ready in hand. He is still amazed that he is able to stay on his feet, he even managed to keep his headache at bay but he knows that he will pay the price when the adrenaline will ebb down again. But right now he is able to function just fine, he swore himself that he will not let anything happen to Catherine; he hopes that she will stay in the kitchen, at the moment the safest place for her. He already checked two dead bodies, he never saw them before and he has no idea how many men Vitali has hanging around here. When he comes to the living room he can see that Jefferson is gone. _Damn_. He checks the rest of the ground floor and is about to go up the stairs when he hears a gunshot and at the same time feels something hot tearing into his upper left arm right above his cast. He is slightly thrown to his left but not enough to miss the target, his bullet lodges right into the heart of the guy standing atop the stairs. He is dead before he even hits the floor.

Steve continues his way up the stairs, still carefully looking out for any more guys with guns. Reaching the upper floor he has to stop as a wave of nausea rolls over him, he leans against the wall and waits a few seconds before he can go on. It takes him a few minutes to check all rooms, no one is left there. The house is empty, Vitali and his goons are all gone. When he looked out of one of the windows he saw that the chopper is gone as well.

He makes his way back to the stairs but knows that he won't make it down again, so he steps back against the wall and slowly slides down. He is suddenly so tired and dizzy, he can practically feel the adrenaline leaving his system. The only thing that kept him going the last half hour. He feels incredibly warm, his shirt is soaked in the back. His leg reached a pain level he never experienced before, he don't think that he will ever be able to move it again, even the thought to move it causes him pain. The pain is pulsing from his ankle to his knee with every beat of his heart, it makes him nauseas. He didn't believe it possible but his leg actually hurts more than his head. Which is hammering away with a blinding intensity that he even can't find any words for. There is no scale he could use to describe the pain that is running around in his head. Steve sits against the wall, his hand with the gun resting in his lap and is just trying to breathe which gets harder with every passing minute. There is a pressure building in his chest ever since Cath hauled him up and against her with his arm around her shoulder. When she pushed against him he could feel a piercing pain. He now feels a little like after almost drowning, maybe that is why he stopped breathing a while ago, he really thought he was under water and if he took a breath he would drown. He tries to take a deep breath so that he can call Cath, to tell her that it is save to come out now, but he just can't. So he keeps just sitting and waiting. There is no way that he will get up again, not with Cath's help let alone on his own. He figures that sooner or later Cath will come looking for him, order and promises be damned. He smiles to himself when he thinks about Cath disobeying his order. He needs to think about a good punishment for that. Just then a very welcome head appears on the top of the stairs.

Cath is somewhat nervously looking around, gun in hand, when she sees Steve sitting against the wall and smiling at her. She hasn't even realized that she has held her breath all the way up the stairs, a breath that she lets out now almost explosively. She is at his side in a flash.

"Steve you okay? You're bleeding, did you get hit," she is looking at the scratch in his arm.

"It's fine. . .they're all gone. . .Danny coming," every breath now is painful and he tries not to inhale too deeply.

"Yeah they finally figured out where we are, they're here shortly," Cath informs him while she is checking him over. She noticed that he is sitting absolutely still and barely breathing, he is bathed in sweat and has his eyes closed his head resting against the wall. She gets really worried when she notices how blueish his lips are getting.

"Steve you need to take deeper breaths, come on breathe some more for me," she is trying to coax him into deeper breaths.

Steve is now looking at her again, "Can't. . .punctured. . .lung. . .don't. . .move. . .me. . .until EMT's. . .are here."

He knows that one of his ribs punctured his right lung, probably his lower lobe since the broken ribs are really low, but until now it's not collapsed, so he can still take air in, but there is no way to know for how much longer. He can still feel the pressure slowly building which tells him that at least some air is gathering into his chest cavity. If his lung is going to collapse he will be in real trouble in a matter of minutes, at the moment the pressure on his lung is not high enough to cause a collapse, but that can change any second. He is confident that it won't come to that, because there is no stabbing pain in his chest, which means that the pressure is building very slowly and he might actually get lucky.

They can finally hear sirens in the distance and shortly after a whole swat team is storming the house. Closely followed by the Five-0's.

They are slightly shocked at what they see, the house looks a bit like a war zone. Cath is calling them up the stairs, where they finally see their friends again.

The sight in front of them is not what they expected. Steve is leaning against the wall and is a bloody mess. There is blood everywhere, his sling is soaked in it, his right hand is bloody and he obviously hit something with it, blood is on his cast coming from a wound just above it. There are blood splatters all over him.

"Jeez Steve what happened to you," Danny is now crouching next to his friend.

"Most. . .not. . .my blood," Steve is speaking very low but calm and seemingly not out of breath.

"Cath are you all right, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine, just a little headache, where are the paramedics?"

Just then they arrive and take over the scene. Steve opens his eyes and informs them calmly about his injuries, even tells them what drug he took just two hours ago.

"Take a look. . .at Cath please. . .she was. . .unconscious."

"We will; don't worry but you are first, we need to lower you to the floor, let us do the work, just relax."

They go about their business, have Steve flat on his back, an oxygen mask on him, an IV in and listen to his lungs.

"Steve listen we need to get the air out, we're going to try it first with a needle before we put a tube in, looks like a simple pneumothorax, your lung is not collapsed yet. Hang in there, here we go."

It only takes a few seconds and Steve can breathe freely again, which actually brings a smile onto his lips.

"Okay that went well, we need to get him to the hospital. Let's move it people."

Steve is loaded on the stretcher and secured, all the while still conscious and more or less alert. The medic is just about to change that when Steve pulls his oxygen mask off, "No, don't sedate me. No narcotics!"

"It's a light sedative just for the transport, which will hurt you, you will be more comfortable with it."

"I don't care, NO drugs."

"Steve please be reasonable," Danny is trying to talk to him.

"NO! No drugs."

"Okay, no narcotics, we won't knock you out. Now let's move him."

Steve seems satisfied now, but his friends are wondering what this was all about.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well are you wondering what that is all about? Well I guess you have to stick around to find out.<strong>_

_**Thanks again so much for all your great comments, pm's and just plain reading. This is a really amazing experience for me. Thank you!**_

_**And as you know me by now, a little sneak peek:**_

**Chapter 33 - Take out the SEAL**

Danny is ready to scream. To scream at someone, to anyone, who will listen. Unfortunately there is no one there to scream at. They, that is Danny, Kono, Chin, JoJo and Admiral Davis, are still sitting in the ER waiting area and no one is talking to them. They can't get any information on Steve or Cath. Ten minutes ago Steve was whisked away into a trauma room behind that damn glass door that separates them from the ER. Just a few minutes ago Dr. Hope hurried into the room shortly followed by the Doctor that is treating Cath. _Well seems that she is getting some information at least_, Danny thinks after Cath's doc is leaving the room again. All _they_ can do is waiting and hoping that someone will take pity on them and inform them about what is going on with their friends.


	33. Chapter 33 Take out the SEAL

**Chapter 33 - Take out the SEAL**

"Please Lieutenant Rollins you have to get checked out first. Commander McGarrett said you were unconscious. You have to have a CT Scan," the doctor in the ER is getting irritated at his patient. The woman just doesn't want to hold still for any examinations.

"I'm fine, I was dazed, not unconscious, now let me go."

"I'm sorry but I have the information that you were unconscious and the bruise on your head seems to indicate that. So why not spare us all the trouble and just get it over with," Ken Smithers is now trying to persuade her with logic, not immediately successful he must realize a few seconds later.

"OK, but first I need to know how Steve is, please go ask Dr. Hope. After that you can do whatever you want," Cath knows that she doesn't have a chance to get out of the examination by the young doctor. And she also knows that she shouldn't, because her head is really starting to hurt, not to mention the light nausea she is experiencing.

"All right, I'm going to take a look, you wait right here. Do not leave this room," with one last stern look he is gone. It only takes him five minutes to come back.

"Dr. Hope is with the Commander right now, he is getting prepped for surgery, as they need to fix his lung, but that is nothing serious don't worry. He will be fine. Now about your head."

Cath is not really satisfied with that, she needs to talk to Dr. Hope, she has a really bad feeling about all this, she still doesn't know what Steve meant when he was talking about Hope's offer.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is ready to scream. To scream at someone, to anyone, who will listen. Unfortunately there is no one there to scream at. They, that is Danny, Kono, Chin, JoJo and Admiral Davis, are still sitting in the ER waiting area and no one is talking to them. They can't get any information on Steve or Cath. Ten minutes ago Steve was whisked away into a trauma room behind that damn glass door that separates them from the ER. Just a few minutes ago Dr. Hope hurried into the room shortly followed by the Doctor that is treating Cath. _Well seems that she is getting some information at least_, Danny thinks after Cath's doc is leaving the room again. All _they_ can do is waiting and hoping that someone will take pity on them and inform them about what is going on with their friends.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve is not fighting when his clothes are cut off of him, he is only semiconscious but hangs on to consciousness with all he has left in him, he needs to speak to Dr. Hope, who still needs to arrive. He is not reacting when they start to clean his scrape on his arm, but he can't suppress the groan when they insert a Foley. _Couldn't they wait until I was out_, he gets a little pissed at them, but the discomfort helps him to stay alert, so maybe he should be thankful. He would be really thankful, even grateful if they would cover him up. He feels like a slap of meat on the butchers table, not to mention that he is getting really cold. Finally someone seems to have some pity on him and at least covers his midsection down to his knees. _Thank you for small favors_. Someone is addressing him, so he decides it might be a good idea to open his eyes again. _Why is it always so damn bright in the ER_, his eyes start to water and the light shoots right into his brain but he keeps his eyes stubbornly open.

"Steve please look at me," he can now understand that Dr. Hope is talking to him and he moves his head to look at him, which also helps with the light.

"Steve you don't have to talk, keep the oxygen-mask on, just squeeze my hand when you can understand me, once for yes, two for no. You understand me," one squeeze to his hand follows. "Good, now listen we're going to clean your wound, it's nothing serious just a graze. But we need to fix your lung, for that we need to get you to the OR, but it's just a very small tear, which will be fine in no time. While you're up there we will also take a look at your arm and leg. The cast on the arm needs to come off, it's completely soiled by all the blood. The cast on the leg has some small cracks in it, what did you do? Don't answer that."

Steve is looking at his Doctor and still waiting to hear what he wants to talk to him about, but he doesn't need to wait any longer.

"With all this injuries and the amount of pain you are in I think it is more than indicated that we do something about your head injury," Dr. Hope smiles down at Steve when he feels his hand being squeezed strongly. "You still give your consent to be put in a coma," the strength which with his hand is squeezed surprises him a bit. "OK you do understand that you will wake up with the headache still in place but hopefully at a bearable level. Steve we cannot take the pain completely away. You do understand that?"

Steve is not squeezing his hand again but gets the mask out of the way.

"Yes I understand, I just want _this_ to stop. I can't take this anymore, it was never this bad before," Steve closes his eyes as another pain attack assaults him; they are coming every few minutes now.

"OK, Steve I'm going to take you out in a minute, do you want to talk to your friends first?"

He thought about that since he talked to Dr. Hope yesterday and again all the way to the hospital, "No, just tell me how Cath is, is she all right?"

"She is fine, she gets a CT scan and she will spent the night here, but I'm sure she only has a mild concussion if even that. Don't worry about her. I'm going to talk to them and explain what is going to happen to you."

"Good. Please tell them that Stephanie was not the contact," Steve doesn't know if Dr. Hope is involved but he goes with his instincts and trusts him.

"Okay, I will. Now are you ready? Good I will now give you something that makes you go to sleep, then we're going to put you on a ventilator and take you to the OR. Don't worry you won't feel a thing and we will take it out before you're awake again. After we're done with the surgery and your other injuries we're going to induce the coma. We will keep you under for at least five days. Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"OK Steve just relax everything will be fine when you wake up again," Dr. Hope injects a white liquid into Steve's IV and it only takes a few seconds before Steve can't keep his eyes open anymore. The last thing he feels is how the mask is taken off and his head is bent back. After that there is just nothing.

H50 – H50 – H50

"What the. . .," Danny jumps off his seat when he sees that Steve is wheeled out of the trauma room he was in until now. All kind of stuff is attached to his bed, but what really disturbed them is that Steve is obviously unconscious and that he is on a ventilator. Before they can really react, the bed with Steve in it disappears into an elevator, together with three people around him. But at least Doctor Hope is coming their way.

"Listen, I'm going to check on Lieutenant Rollins first, why don't you all meet me in Steve's former room, I will be there shortly and inform you about what is going on with Steve. Oh one thing, Steve told me to tell you 'Stephanie was not the contact', hope you know what that means." He doesn't even wait for an answer but leaves them standing there, while he is going to see his colleague about Catherine Rollins.

H50 – H50 – H50

They can hear them long before the door is opened.

"I'm telling you I don't need to spend the night here," Catherine is lying in a hospital bed and looks more than a little unhappy.

Dr. Hope is coming in after her and waits for the nurse to finish with her things before she addresses her again, "Please just humor me. I promised Steve to take care of you, so please just spent the night for observation and if everything is fine you can leave tomorrow."

"Fine, but I want my protest be noted."

"It is, believe me, you voiced it loud enough and to everyone who came near you," Mark Hope is now smiling down at her. She can't help but grin back, she knows that he's right, she did make a pretty big show of not wanting to stay in the hospital.

"Catherine are you all right," Danny is standing next to her bed and takes a closer look, but can't see anything wrong with her apart from a little bandage on the side of her head.

"Yeah I'm fine, what I'm trying to tell them for the last hour now."

"Lieutenant Rollins is fine, but she does have a mild concussion. That's why we'd like her to stay the night. But nothing to worry about, she will be fine by tomorrow. And yes we will release you then," he is addressing all of them with a smile, but gets serious real quick.

"Now about Steve. Please let's sit down," he settles in one of the chairs while the others take what place is available.

"When will they be done with the surgery? Will he be okay?"

"Danny everything is fine, he is already out of surgery, everything went without a problem. He is now getting control x-rays for his arm and leg, we had to change the casts. One was completely soiled from the blood and the other had tiny cracks in it. But there was no further damage to the bones."

"But his arm was extremely painful after he fell on it and he couldn't move his fingers. Is his arm okay?"

"Yes Catherine everything is fine. If you have a broken bone and falls on it or kick someone with a broken leg," he's shaking his head at that, "that is extremely painful. The nerve endings are on high alert so to speak for a while, that is why he was in such pain. But there was no damage done, everything is healing nicely."

"So we can wait in ICU for him to wake up," Danny is hoping to see his friend soon.

"No. I'm sorry but you cannot see him at the moment. He will be settled in the ICU soon, but I want you all to go home and get some proper rest. Steve will not wake up for a while," Dr. Hope is cursing Steve silently a little for not telling his friends and leaving the job to him. But he can understand it, he knows that Steve was not able to function like he wanted to, and he knows that it would not have been possible for him to tell them properly.

"Why not? You said everything went fine and that he is okay," Danny doesn't understand where this is going.

"Did Steve talk to any of you about how bad he was feeling," when he sees all of them shaking their heads he continues, "He told me that ever since Danny caused the pain attack two days ago the pain level of his constant headache didn't lessen. The bursts of pain got worse as well, they lasted longer and came more frequently, every one worse than the one before. Imagine the worst headache you ever had than multiply that by ten. Now imagine to be in that kind of pain every single waking minute. If you got that, imagine to have bursts of pain that are even ten times worse. Then you will know how he felt the last days. The problem is that we can't come up with a pain medication that he is responding to. We can help him with the pain of his broken bones, but not with the pain in his head."

"This is all my fault," Danny looks devastated.

"NO! No Danny that is not your fault and Steve is NOT blaming you for anything. You might have speed things up a bit, but he would have ended here anyway. Steve knows that, his last injury was very serious and his Doctor from back then already told him that something like this would probably happen if he gets another severe concussion. It was not your fault."

"What can you do for him? If you can't find any drugs, I mean he can't be in agony all the time," Kono is now speaking up for the first time.

"We're going to induce a coma for a few days in the hope that the pain attacks will stop and that he is only left with the residue headache. There are no guarantees that it will work, but it's the only way I see. His brain is in overdrive and we're going to just get the brakes on, hopefully to slow him down enough to get a chance to heal."

"How long will you keep him under?"

"At least five days, probably longer. That gives not just his brain time to 'calm' down but also his other injuries to heal more, which would mean that he would be in a lot less pain when he wakes up. So that he doesn't have to fight on all fronts. His cold will be gone by then and we will hopefully get his fever down soon. He's had a low grade fever for six days now. All this added a lot to his state he is in. It was just too much."

"But he will be fine?"

"I think he will. There are risks involved. He's on the ventilator, so he will not breathe on his own. Every coma is a risk, it doesn't matter if it is artificial induced or caused by an injury. But no matter what the risks, we have no choice. Steve cannot go on like that anymore, the stress for his heart would cause problems soon. Steve is a very strong healthy young man, any other man would not have lived through the crash and the injuries and the pain he suffered. I'm confident that he will be fine."

"One more thing, please don't be mad at him that he didn't tell you. He was not able to. It's not his fault, please don't blame him," Dr. Hope looks into worried faces but could not see any anger or blame.

"Now I want you all to go home. You can see him tomorrow, but only one person at a time and only for ten minutes a day. And this time I mean it. I will inform you as soon as anything happens. One question: will there still be a guard in front of his door?"

"Dr. Hope is it possible to transfer him to another hospital?"

"What?"

"He is not safe here, we still don't know who the contact of the kidnapper is, I want him out of here."

"Catherine it is not advisable to transfer him, where would you like him to go?"

"Over to Tripler, at the Military hospital he would be safe. Would that be a risk for him?"

"No not really, he is in stable condition."

"Then I want him out of here, Admiral can you please see that he gets there?"

"Doctor I like to have his transfer papers ready in half an hour, he will be picked up by then," with that he leaves with phone in hand, obviously to make sure that his officer gets to another hospital as soon as possible.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny realizes something that evening, the Military can be very efficient. Steve's transport was ready and in front of the door in less than thirty minutes. He was not only escorted by a neurosurgeon but also by MP's. It was almost a Military convoy since there was a second ambulance for Catherine, who was bitching all the way to Tripler Army Medical Center. But she stopped her ranting when she was put in the bed next to Steve in the ICU, surely the work of Admiral Davies. Of course this way it was easier to set up security for both of them.

The Neurosurgeon, Army Captain Alex Neill, checked all the stuff around Steve's bed and made sure that all his monitors were connected to the station in front of the room, when he was satisfied he left the two alone. But that didn't last long, Danny came in just a minute after the Doctor left.

"Danny they let you in here? How did you managed to do that," Cath knows how strict the Army is about visiting hours.

"Well it helps to have an Admiral next to you. He is talking to Steve's Doctor, I think the poor guy is a bit intimidated," Danny has to smile at that.

"Yeah but he seems capable. Besides he let me stay here, so I'm not complaining."

Danny is standing between Cath's and Steve's beds and is looking down at him; he is hoping that his friend is finally pain free. It is a bit scary to see him like this, he looks totally different than the last time he was in the ICU not even a week ago. This time around there is a lot more stuff attached to him. Not just the ventilator that is breathing for him, but also more cables and tubes sneaking in and out in various places. But what really disturbs him is the tape that keeps his eyes closed.

"Does his new Doctor. . ."

"Captain Neill."

"Okay, Captain Neill thinks like Dr. Hope; that this is the right thing?"

"Yes he does, he concurs with everything that Dr. Hope said. Danny who do you think is Vitali's contact?"

"I don't know," Danny has to admit while he looks over to her, "but we will find out, we start our interviews of everyone involved tomorrow at the hospital."

"Do you think Steve is safe here," Cath's voice sounds very worried and maybe even a bit afraid.

"I'm sure nothing will happen to him. Don't worry Cath he is _very_ safe here, the Admiral even handpicked every man for the Security Detail. Everything will be okay. Are you okay? You went through a lot."

"I'm fine Danny."

"Wow where did I hear that before," but he is smiling at her, bents down and gives her a peek on the cheek, "Get some rest Cath, I'm coming by tomorrow to see how you are."

After Danny leaves it takes her only a couple of minutes to give in to the exhaustion of this extraordinary trying and long day. She is lulled to sleep by the low beeping of Steve's heart monitor and the rhythmic whooshing sound of the ventilator.

H50 - H50 - H50

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><p><em><strong>Thank you again so much for reading. And as always a little sneak peek into the next one:<strong>_

**Chapter 34 - Adrift**

Captain Alex Neill really has it now with Williams. He really doesn't know how often Detective Williams has called now, every time he told him the same thing, the Commander is doing as well as can be expected. But that man is relentless he is calling almost every hour on the hour. But he is sure that he will not surrender to that harassment, well it can be called that by now, and will allow any visitors in the Commanders room. Well okay, his girlfriend but he had some very strong words with her and is sure that she will follow his orders.


	34. Chapter 34 Adrift

_**I think I might need to clear up a few things before you start reading. We continue this story seven days after Steve was put in a coma, don't worry you will learn what happened in those seven days. If you find the following chapter(s) a bit confusing, well please bear with me, that was my intention. To show Steve's utter confusion after waking up and being not very clear on his surroundings. I hope you will enjoy it none the less. So let's wake him up.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 34 - Adrift<strong>

Steve becomes slowly aware of some sounds around him. He can't make out what it is, but it has some kind of a calming effect. It's a rhythmic sound, almost in synch with his own breathing, just a little bit faster. He now can hear other sounds as well, more prominent ones, the heart monitor is easy to identify, he heard that one often enough. But there is also a clicking sound he never heard before. The more he thinks about it the more sounds he can hear, there is the unmistakable mix that can be heard in every hospital. But since all the sounds are kind of muffled he knows that he is not lying in the ICU but in a private room.

After the recognition of sounds his other senses decide to wake up as well, next he is feeling his body again. Not such a pleasant sensation, but not too bad either. His throat hurts a bit, a little more when he swallows. His arm and leg are just throbbing a little, can't even call it painful, a very nice surprise. But what makes him sigh with relief is his head. There is pain, but only at a level of a run-off-the-mill headache, something everyone gets once in a while. Nothing like the debilitating blinding agony he was in the last time he was awake. He is almost scared to move his head or even open his eyes, worried that the pain will attack him again. After a few more minutes of just enjoying the feeling of being almost pain free he ventures into slowly opening his eyes. To a room painted in a very ugly watered down greenish color. He doubts that there even is such an ugly room at Queens Medical, seconds later it comes to him. He's at Tripler Army Medical Center.

He slowly turns his head and what he sees makes him smile: Cath is lounging in a chair next to his bed, silently watching him, his attempt to softly call out to her ends in a coughing fit.

"Steve, you're awake. How do you feel," Cath bends down to him and gives him a very gentle kiss. It's almost just a touch of a kiss after which she settles back into the chair, leaving Steve wondering what that is about.

"Can I get some water," his voice his hoarse from disuse and from having a tube down his throat for a few days.

"Yes of course I'll be right back," she is gone before he can even realize that she practically fled the room.

Instead of Cath a nurse and a Doctor are coming into his room.

"Commander McGarrett, good to see you awake again, Sir," Dr. Neill is looking at his patient who outranks him and who seems to have friends in very high places. "I'm Capt. Neill, I'm your neurologist for your time here. How do you feel?"

"Can I have some water please," Steve asks again. His throat his starting to hurt more and seems to be really irritated, which makes him cough some more.

The nurse is letting him drink some water and even has some ice-chips for him which he takes gratefully. They do wonders to his abused throat.

"Commander how high is the pain level of your head?"

"It's not too bad, maybe a three," Steve is mumbling around some ice-chips.

"That is better than we expected, let's hope that the spikes of pain won't come back. We did a couple MRI's the last few days and everything looks good. But I want you to stay in bed for at least another twenty-four hours. We kept you under for seven days, it's Thursday again. We will keep you on a light sedative for a little while longer, you will feel a little drowsy. We won't allow any visitors. Tomorrow we will cut the drugs then we will take the nutritions on your IV and the Foley out. Hopefully you will be able to handle some solid food by then. You have any questions?"

Steve is still trying to understand what his Doctor told him, he only understood that he will be in bed and stuck with a tube where he really doesn't want anything for a little longer. And that he lost a full week. Captain Neill obviously waits for some kind of answer from him, so he just shakes his head in the hope that it is the right one.

"Good we let you rest some more," with that he injects something in his IV. His eyelids are drooping already when Cath is coming back, she takes a look at him and settles back into her chair by his bed. She is saying something to him, but he can't make out what it is so he just goes back to sleep.

H50 – H50 – H50

Captain Alex Neill really has it now with Williams. He really doesn't know how often Detective Williams has called now, every time he told him the same thing, the Commander is doing as well as can be expected. But that man is relentless he is calling almost every hour on the hour. But he is sure that he will not surrender to that harassment, well it can be called that by now, and will allow any visitors in the Commanders room. Well okay, his girlfriend but he had some very strong words with her and is sure that she will follow his orders.

He will not risk McGarrett's health under any circumstances, there are no guarantees that the coma will have any lasting positive effect. It seems like the seven days did the trick and his pain is at a bearable level so that he will be able to start to get better, but there is no way to know for how long it will stay that way. He doesn't trust Williams to follow his orders, so he will him allow to see his patient only if he is sure that McGarrett is on his way to get better and not one second sooner. He is looking at his phone even though he knows who is calling, he is answering it with a groan, "Yes Detective Williams? . . .Listen before you start again, I just talked to Commander McGarrett; he is doing very well at the moment with just a very low level of pain. . .No you cannot see him today. . .No Detective. . .Come by tomorrow at seventeen hundred, that's five p. m. and I will let you see him then. Do not go directly to his room, I need to talk to you first. If you don't comply to this rules I will have you removed from the hospital. . .I don't care if you're friends with the governor, for all I care you can sleep with the Admiral, you will not see the Commander on your own and not today. Do you understand that? . . .Good than I will see you tomorrow and DON'T call me again!"

He presses the button on the touchscreen of his phone with force, _where are the times where you __could smash the receiver onto the phone_? He turns around and smacks into the Admiral. _Shit_.

"Admiral, Sir."

"Captain. I couldn't fail to hear your conversation and it seems that the Commander is doing better?"

"Yes Sir he is, if you would like to see him?"

"Yes I'd like to. And Captain? I can assure you that Detective Williams is a bit young for me, but thank you for the compliment." Admiral Davies is not moving one muscle and looks at the young Captain, but he has a very hard time not to burst out laughing at the sight in front of him. The Captain gives a very good impression of a man who doesn't know if he should pack his stuff to be sent to the Arctic Circle right now or if he gets court-martialed in his very near future. Davies decides to put him out of his misery, "Thank you for taking such good care of my friend. Danny Williams can be a handful and I appreciate that you defend your position on the care of Commander McGarrett so vehemently." He gives the young man in front of him a genuine smile.

Alex Neill was never more surprised in his life, he never realized that his taking care of his patients with such devotion is highly appreciated, "Thank you Sir. And I'm sorry Sir, I got carried away. I will work on that."

"Well at least look over your shoulder first," Admiral Davies is still smiling, he knows a good officer when he sees one and this young man will be an excellent officer and physician with great benefits for his patients. "Now about seeing the Commander?"

"Yes of course Sir."

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve is lying on his right side and wants nothing more than to roll on his back because his side starts to hurt, but every time he moves even an inch there is a sharp pain in his crotch. He realizes that while he turned that hated tube must have gotten tangled somehow, but he is too befuddled to do anything about it. But he is not dazed enough to not feel the intense pain his latest try to move caused him, he curls some more into himself in the hope to lessen the pulling sensation a bit, but it's not really working. He can't keep himself from groaning by now, which brings Cath to his side.

He can feel that she is bent down to him, but she is not touching him, "Steve what's wrong, you in pain?"

Steve has his eyes still tightly clenched shut and has a hard time to answer her, "Foley hurts."

"Oh okay, hang in there I get someone," with that she is gone.

"Wha'. . .Cath?"

It only takes a minute for someone to arrive, Sergeant Maggy Square, just back from a tour in Iraq, a very resolute nurse who has seen everything in her military life. She is known for her effectiveness and competence but kind and gentle is not something one would describe her with. She pulls the blanket off of him and turns him on his back in one swift motion accompanied by his cry of pain when the Foley is almost pulled out.

"Oh come on don't be such a baby, Commander that can't hurt that much," while talking she lies her hand on his belly and rearranges the tube in its rightful place.

Steve is trying very hard to fight down all the images that are assaulting him, this time he is able to keep the panic at bay but he cannot block out all the violent images, not just from his capture in the desert but also from other fights and from his two crashes, he sees a lot of blood, violence and pain, hears screaming and crying and cursing and over all that he sees Catherine who seems to stand by and watches him suffer, "Cath?"

"Your friend is outside, she will be back when we're finished, your belly looks pretty bruised; does this hurt," she again is pressing down on his belly and another cry of pain slips out of him. "I'm sorry, listen I'm going to get your legs up a bit that will lessen the strain on your muscles a little." She is using the buttons on the side of his bed to change the position of the mattress so that his legs are both elevated; effectively taking all strain off his belly. She rearranges his hospital gown, covers him back up and very unceremoniously leaves his room.

Leaving back a very confused Steve who is still trying to get past the pain in his groin and belly and to figure out why Catherine left so abruptly and left him in the hands of that torturer.

It takes at least another ten minutes before Cath is back in his room, sitting back down at his side.

"You feel better," Cath is looking at him, but still is not coming near him.

He wants to ask her why she is so cold, why she is so distant but he is too scared of the answer. He is sure that she is so incredibly mad at him, for not telling her about the coma, that she can't even really talk to him let alone comfort him in any way. _Maybe I deserve this punishment_, his thoughts are drifting to Danny and the others who are not even here, she is at least in the room, even though she is giving him the cold shoulder. He still hasn't answered her, his eyes are drifting shut again and he is not fighting to stay awake; it hurts too much to be alone in the room even though Cath is sitting right next to him.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Poor Steve, all alone and confused. Let's hope that he feels better soon. I know he will. :-)<strong>_

_**Let's take a look into the next one:**_

**Chapter 35 - Confused**

Navy Captain Jo-Beth Jordan in slowly opening the door to the private room of Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, US Navy. She is really glad that he is now in 'her' hospital, she knows that they will keep him safe here, she greets the MP in front of his door and enters silently into the room not willing to disturb the patient if he is asleep. Which she can't see on entering, he is turned away from the door. When she rounds his bed she can see that he is indeed sleeping, slightly curled on his right side, making light snoring noises while he is obviously resting peacefully. She has to smile at the sight of him, now clean shaven and completely relaxed he looks much younger than his actual age. She sits down by his side and just watches him for a while thinking back to their first meeting.

_**Annapolis March 1995**_


	35. Some notes from the author

**Dear readers,**

**sorry no new chapter today just some information. It seems that there is a bit of confusion about the fact that Steve is in an ARMY Hospital. Well Tripler Medical Center is operated by the ARMY but it's the biggest hospital for the armed forces of the whole pacific area. Doesn't matter what branch.**

**Yes I could have put Steve into the NAVY Hospital at Pearl, but JoJo is working at Tripler in an exchange program and I wanted Steve in 'her' hospital. Since it is not out of the realm of possibility for Steve to end up there I put him at Tripler. I needed him under the care of the ARMY to add some drama, which you will see in later chapters.**

**As for the ranks of the ARMY and NAVY, there are some differences which might lead to a bit of confusion. For example why Steve outranks a Captain. To clear that up: here are the ranks of NAVY vs. ARMY:**

**NAVY – ARMY/AIR FORCE/USMC**

**_Ranks for Officers: _**

Midshipman – Officer Cadet –

Ensign – 2nd Lieutenant –

Sub-Lieutenant – Lieutenant –

Lieutenant – Captain –

Lt.-Commander – Major –

Commander – Lieutenant Colonel –

Captain – Colonel –

Commodore – Brigadier –

Admiral – General –

Admiral of the Fleet – Marshal/Field Marshal –  
>(only at times of war)<p>

**_Ranks of Seaman, Soldiers and Airmen_**

Seaman – Private - Aircraftman

Leading Seaman – Corporal - Corporal

Petty Officer – Sergeant - Sergeant

Warrant Officer – Sergeant Major – Warrant Officer

**I hope you will enjoy the future chapters. I will update again soon. We are on the last stretch of this part of the story, but for everyone who might be interested there is a sequel. Not every loose end can be wrapped up in the last chapters. And I want to show more of Steve's healing process, hence the sequel, but don't worry there will be action, drama and romance as well.**

**If you have any questions, comments or just want to rant please don't hesitate to send me a pm or use the review button. Yes that was a little hint. :-)**

_**Thank you all so much for reading, you have no idea what a great experience this is for me. Thank you!**_


	36. Chapter 35 Confused

_**So now that we have cleared up a few things let's go on with the story. :-)**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 35 – Confused<strong>

Navy Captain Jo-Beth Jordan in slowly opening the door to the private room of Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, US Navy. She is really glad that he is now in 'her' hospital, she knows that they will keep him safe here, she greets the MP in front of his door and enters silently into the room not willing to disturb the patient if he is asleep. Which she can't see on entering, he is turned away from the door. When she rounds his bed she can see that he is indeed sleeping, slightly curled on his right side, making light snoring noises while he is obviously resting peacefully. She has to smile at the sight of him, now clean shaven and completely relaxed he looks much younger than his actual age. She sits down by his side and just watches him for a while thinking back to their first meeting.

_**Annapolis March 1995**_

"_Midshipman McGarrett do you know why you are here today," Lt. Cmdr. Jordan is looking at the tall young man standing at attention in front of her desk. He looks not a day older than sixteen but she knows from his file that he will be nineteen this summer._

"_Yes ma'am, it was deemed necessary for me to attend this anger management program," the young man in front of her is speaking in a surprisingly deep and smooth voice._

"_Please stand at ease," she smiles when he does that in a smooth motion, like he did that all his life, not like some of the Midshipmen of the first year who normally stand in front of her. This young man is very different, she can instantly see that. "I take it you don't concur with that assessment?"_

"_It is not my place to comment on that, Commander," he is still not looking at her._

"_Will you please stop calling me Commander, it helps not to be so formal, please call me JoJo," that elicit an irritated gaze her way. "Please have a seat Steven," she smiles silently to herself when he looks her way even more irritated._

"_Thank you ma'am."_

"_So it says here that you were in a fist fight with one of your classmates?"_

"_Yes ma'am."_

"_Care to tell me why you two were fighting in the halls?"_

"_No ma'am."_

"_Hm, I see. Did you win?"_

_Three irritated gazes in less than five minutes. _He makes the most interesting faces, _she silently laughs to herself._

"_Yes ma'am."_

"_Good, so I take it the other guy looks even worse than you do," she is referring to the split lip and bruise on the side of his head, "what caused the bruise on your temple? That looks painful."_

"_Physics."_

"_Physics?"_

"_It's a pretty heavy book ma'am," he says with a little smile._

"_Yes I can imagine. You're here for almost a year now and your record is exemplary, why suddenly this outburst?"_

"_Ma'am can I have some water please?"_

"_Are you deflecting my question?"_

"_No ma'am. I don't feel so good," she can see that he got a little pale, she gets around her desk to take a closer look at her 'patient'._

"_Do you feel sick or dizzy?"_

"_A little, I'm sorry ma'am."_

"_Were you checked out by the infirmary?"_

"_Yes ma'am," Midshipman McGarrett looks at her with an expression she can't read. She doesn't have to because seconds later he is losing his lunch into her waste basket. _Well better in that than on the carpet, _she thinks while she is crouching down to his level when his retching goes over into dry heaves he doesn't seem to be able to stop. After more than two minutes he is still violently sick, so she calls for a medic who arrives shortly after. _

_Steve McGarrett was never so embarrassed in his entire life. Chucking up at the feet of an officer into her waste basket, he can think of nothing more humiliating than that, well at least not off the top of his head. He is still coughing and retching into the basket when a medic appears next to him_. Oh just great, just fucking great, more humiliation. _It takes another minute before he can get up and is escorted to the infirmary where he was checked out the day before._

_To make his embarrassment complete they keep him there for overnight observation. _

_The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes in the morning is Commander Jo-Beth Jordan sitting next to his bed._

"_Well I must say Midshipman McGarrett you are my first patient who keeled over from my questions," but she is smiling rather nicely at him._

"_I'm sorry ma'am," he says sheepishly, but can't keep the grin off his face._

"_Well since we got off with such a good start, we should see each other more often. Please call me when you get out of here and feel better. Oh and one more thing, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Get well and call me for a new appointment."_

"_Yes ma'am," he looks after her and admits silently that he is looking forward to seeing her again._

H50 – H50 – H50

Dr. Jordan is brought back to the present by some light coughing. Steve is waking up and looks bleary-eyed at her. His cold is gone by now but his throat is still irritated from the breathing tube he was stuck with for a week. Talking will be a bit painful for a day or two.

"Steve can we talk for a little bit," JoJo looks questionably at Steve who is still kind of dozing.

"Hmmmm, guess so."

"You tell me when it gets too much for you or your headache gets worse."

"Hmmmm."

"Steve does your leg hurt?"

"Not really, no."

"How is your arm?"

"Okay, doesn't hurt."

"Since you're lying on your right side for a while now I guess the ribs and hip are fine too?"

"Yeah it's okay, hurts only a little, less than always lying on my back, don't like that much."

"Now, how is your head? Still as bad as a week ago?"

"NO, it's way better, it's down to a normal headache, it's _nothing_ like last week. Didn't even have a spike of pain yet," Steve is smiling for the first time since JoJo came to visit, even if it is just a ghost of a smile.

"So we have established that you're not in pain much. Considering that you survived a plane-crash, two kidnappings, some firefights and some beating, I would think that you should be really happy. Care to tell me why you look so sad and miserable?"

Steve is looking at her and realizes just now what her questions were all about. He closes his eyes to keep the tears that threaten to spill out at bay.

JoJo can clearly see that he is fighting with his emotions, she bends forward and grabs his hand, "Steve tell me what is going on," she speaks very softly at him. She knows that he is still very vulnerable; he just came out of the artificial coma twenty-four hours ago.

"I screwed up," he almost whispers, "she is so mad at me."

"Steve who is mad at you, Catherine?"

"Yeah," he almost chokes out.

"What makes you think that? She didn't say anything about being mad at you. Steve what happened," she is looking at Steve and can for the life of her not see the highly decorated Navy Officer, instead she sees a young man who is completely distraught over the fact that he thinks that he screwed up his relationship with his girlfriend. She can see that he struggles not to break out in tears. It's clear to her that his head is still really messing with his emotions.

"Steve? Come on tell me, I can help."

He sniffles some and slowly starts to talk in a soft voice, "When I'm sick or not feeling well Cath is always very touchy and I love it. Last week she was almost constantly touching me in some way. Her hand on my chest; stroking my hair back; kissing my forehead or just holding my hand, it was the only thing that kept me going. Since I woke up yesterday she gave me one almost shy kiss, she hasn't touched me once. No caressing my head or even taking my hand. She barely speaks with me and she left me with that nurse who was hurting me." Some tears are finding their way down his cheek now, "I miss her so much," he is only whispering now.

"And you think she is mad at you? About what Steve, did you ask her?"

"No I didn't, I'm scared to lose her. I didn't tell her how bad I was feeling last week, I didn't tell her about my talk to Dr. Hope. What if she thinks I don't trust her? I just want it to be like it was," he is almost whining now.

"Why didn't you tell your friends about the coma?"

"I. . .they were so happy to see me awake and talking. . .but it was so hard and I just couldn't take it anymore. . .but I couldn't tell Danny, I don't want him to feel guilty. . .and Cath was already feeling so bad to see me like that. . .I guess I just couldn't admit that I couldn't go on any more. . .I was scared of their disappointment in me."

"No one is disappointed in you Steve and I'm sure Cath is not mad at you about that. You were very hurt and in my opinion should have been kept under way longer than you were. They should have kept you in a coma right from the beginning. It was not wrong to let you wake up on your own time, but with your medical history it would have been the better way to keep you under. And you should have told Dr. Hope right away in what kind of pain you were, he would not have hesitated to sedate you again. In the end there is no one to blame but the people who hurt you in the first place and I hope that they will get them soon."

"You think she's not mad," Steve asks with a little hope in his voice.

"I'm positive and I'm pretty sure I know the reason behind her behavior. You stop worrying about losing your friend, which is ridiculous anyway, she loves you. I'm going to talk to her if you want me to. Steve you feel ok, you're a bit pale."

"I'm nauseas and my head hurts some more," Steve closes his eyes and just hopes that he will not be assaulted by an agonizing pain attack.

"Okay you just try to sleep some more and we will talk again later. I'm going to stay a bit longer, just to make sure you're not going to be sick," JoJo is still holding Steve's hand and he is not making any move to let go, so she just settles back in the chair and waits for him to feel better or fall asleep whatever may come first.

50 – H50 – H50

When Catherine enters the room she did not expect to find Dr. Jordan hunched over Steve holding his hand, stroking his back in comforting circles and speaking softly to him. While he lies still, eyes tightly closed and making noises that sounds an awful lot like whimpering.

"It helps a little to place your hand on his forehead," Catherine whispers and is gently pushing JoJo out of the way and takes over her place. She bents down to Steve whispers something in his ear and gently kisses his still visible bruise above his eye, she takes his hand in hers and uses the other to gently stroke his forehead. It only takes a few seconds for his breathing to calm down and his features to relax by her ministrations. Another minute later he opens his eyes and looks somewhat dazedly at her.

"That was your first in twenty-four hours, Steve you feel better? Is the pain still bad?"

Cath is still stroking his head and doesn't raise her voice yet, still worried that he might be sensitive to sound.

"You're back," his voice is filled with such wonder that she is looking somewhat quizzically at JoJo before she answers him.

"Of course I'm back, where did you think I go?"

"I missed you. . .thought you'd leave. . .please don't go. . .I'm sorry. . ." it is obvious that Steve is not really awake after he just suffered a severe pain attack, his first since he woke up.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here when you wake up, now go to sleep," she keeps caressing his head until she feels his breathing even out and she is sure that he is asleep.

"JoJo what is he talking about, what happened?"

"Come on let's go outside, we can talk there and we need to inform Dr. Neill about this," JoJo leads Cath out of the room.

"Catherine will you join me for a coffee? We didn't really have time to talk lately," JoJo is smiling at Cath in the hope to persuade her to join her for a little talk.

It only takes them a few minutes to find a nice quiet place in the cafeteria and get some coffee, drinkable but by far not as good as at Queens.

"Cath how are you doing? We didn't really talk about what you went through in the last two weeks; you must feel somewhat worried with the kidnappers still out there."

"Well the Five-0's are not leaving me alone for long, one of them even stays with me at home, they have taken over Steve's old room, it's nice to have someone there."

JoJo wonders if Cath is even aware that she calls Steve's house 'home', she has to smile a little at that. "So they have you under protection?"

"Yeah pretty much," Cath is wondering what this is about, she is pretty sure that JoJo is not asking her 'just' to know how she is. "They will increase security when Steve is released in the next couple of days. He is the main target I doubt they are interested in me."

"How does that make you feel? That you were put in danger because someone is after Steve? Are you angry?"

"Angry? I'm totally pissed! Do you have any idea what they did to him, how much they hurt him, I'm livid with anger. I want to kill them," Cath has a hard time to not raise her voice too much, to not draw too much attention to them.

"That is actually not what I mean. How are you feeling towards Steve because of all this, all that you went through?"

"What? I don't understand, what do you mean by my feelings about Steve?"

"Are you angry at him, do you blame him? That would only be natural. If it wasn't for him you would not have been kidnapped."

"Are you nuts? That was not his fault, none if this is. NO I'm not angry at Steve, how could I be," Cath is now raising her voice which earns her some strange looks from the customers in the cafeteria.

"Calm down, I didn't expect you to be angry at him, just wanted to make sure that you know it too. Why don't you touch him anymore," sometimes the direct approach is the only way to reach the goal.

"I don't want to hurt him, he was in so much pain last week and I'm sure I added to it, and Dr. Neill told me that touching him could trigger his pain. I try to stay back a bit. Did he talk to you about it?"

"You two really are a pair. You don't want to hurt him but you're doing just that, he misses you so much Cath. He told me your touches were the only thing that got him through the week and you think that was the cause for his pain? You two really need to learn to communicate with each other. He thinks that he screwed everything up and is going to lose you, he is completely miserable; he thinks you're mad at him. Talk to him, tell him how you feel."

"Why does he think I'm mad?"

"Talk to him, ask him about it," JoJo can only shake her head at these two people; she is always amazed how stupid even highly intelligent people can be. "Go to him and let him see how you feel about him. Don't listen to Dr. Neill, forget about hospital policy Steve needs you. And actually you need him too."

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny doesn't know who he is more frustrated at, the Navy, the Army, his ex-wife, Chin and Kono or the world in general.

The Navy took the investigation out of their hands a week ago and are not talking, probably too embarrassed over getting fooled by one single man. Who had them running after ghosts for months now. Of course Danny is still trying everything is his power to get the governor to intervene and get the investigation back into their jurisdiction, but even she can only do so much. Well at least they are allowed to investigate parallel to the Navy, which is not doing much good since they are not getting much information. But David is doing what he can to get them as much Intel as possible. But they are not closer to finding Vitali than they were a week ago.

He is pretty pissed at the Army, and promised himself not to make any jokes about them in front of Steve again that would put them above the Navy. That damn Dr. Alex Neill didn't allow any visitors the last week, after he left Cath the night of the transfer he was not allowed back. He will see Steve for the first time in a week later today. No amount of begging, threatening or even logic could bring that damn Army doctor to let him see Steve.

His ex-wife Rachel, with whom he thought he got closer lately, doesn't want him to take Grace to see Steve when he is released from the hospital. Even though Gracie is begging him for days now to see her Uncle Steve, she wants to make him better as she said. She has painted a dozen pictures for him and can't understand why he is still sleeping and why she is not allowed to see him. He can understand Rachel somewhat as long as the kidnappers are still at large. But still he is mad at her, because _he_ had to explain it to Gracie and now she thinks that _he_ doesn't want her to see her beloved Uncle Steve. The thought at how much those two have bonded since their first encounter makes him smile. Who would have thought that the big bad SEAL is just a kid at heart?

Chin and Kono are driving him nuts. They are running around like little energy bunnies and investigating every little detail for the hundredth time. He would swear that they didn't sit down once since Steve is back in the hospital. It almost feels like Steve's normal energy is somehow transferred into those two. It's not like he is not investigating every detail again and again, but just watching those two tires him out. And not to forget their planning and organizing for when Steve will be back home in a couple of days. They have thought about everything. Every little detail that would make Steve more comfortable at home. They even laid a wooden path down to the water, so that he can reach his beloved ocean using a crutch. Not to forget the new railing on the right side of his stairs to the upper floor, so that he can get up without help as Kono said. He thinks that they got a little overboard with their preparations but he secretly loves them for it. So maybe he is not frustrated at them after all.

But he is frustrated with the world in general, because they are just going nowhere with their investigation. It didn't help one bit that they couldn't talk to Steve yet. He is only awake for a day and Danny can't wait to see his friend again.

He gets up with a sigh from his desk in search of another coffee, probably his seventh today.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading. And as always a little peek into the next one:<strong>_

**Chapter 36 - Waiting**

_**Friday morning**_

Lt. Catherine Rollins really doesn't want to be at the base in Pearl. She wants to be back at the hospital. Steve was talking so strangely, his behavior and what JoJo told her really worried her. But she was summoned by the Admiral to meet him at his Office at eleven hundred, well she can hardly ignore an order, so now instead of being at the side of her boyfriend, still such a strange word to her, she is sitting in the outer office of the Admiral and waiting to be let in. It's noon already and still she is waiting.


	37. Chapter 36 Waiting

_**Thank you so much for all your reviews, alerts, private messages and just plain reading. **_

_**In the authors notes I forgot to mention that the ranks for the Army are also for the US Marine Corps and the Air Force. So hopefully now everyone is completely confused. LOL **_

_**But please just don't think too much about ranks, it's really not that important for the story.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 36 - Waiting<strong>

**Friday morning**

Lieutenant Catherine Rollins really doesn't want to be at the base in Pearl. She wants to be back at the hospital. Steve was talking so strangely, his behavior and what JoJo told her really worried her. But she was summoned by the Admiral to meet him at his Office at eleven hundred, well she can hardly ignore an order, so now instead of being at the side of her boyfriend, still such a strange word to her, she is sitting in the outer office of the Admiral and waiting to be let in. It's noon already and still she is waiting.

"Lieutenant can I get you another coffee? I'm really sorry but it will take a little longer for the Admiral to see you, some unforeseen phone-conference."

"Thank you but I'm fine," she really shouldn't drink any more coffee today. She thinks back to the talk she had with JoJo just after they left Steve after he fell back to sleep. She was shocked to learn that he thought she was so mad at him that she was going to leave him. She is still cursing that damn Army doctor who didn't allow her to see him. How could she have been so stupid and follow his advice. She remembers his speech vividly.

_**Thursday morning**_

"_Lieutenant Rollins, a word please," Captain Neill is hurrying after her._

"_Captain. One of your nurses called and said that Steve will be awake shortly?"_

"_Yes we stopped the heavy sedation yesterday and he is in a private room for half an hour. He is off the ventilator and he should be awake any minute now."_

"_Thank you for calling me, it was a long week not to see him."_

"_I didn't call you so that you can see him Lieutenant, I'm sorry but he is not allowed to have visitors."_

"_What? I will not leave again Captain. I will see him, with or without your consent and don't you dare try to stop me from that," she knows that she is out of line and that he would have every right to throw her out of the hospital, but she just can't help herself._

_Captain Neill is looking at her and is debating with himself, he knows that he stretched his luck really thin with the Admiral and his General by not letting the Commander's friends seeing him while in a coma. So he is willing to make a compromise._

"_OK, you can see him, but you have to follow my orders. We have no idea what causes his pain attacks, it can be anything; it could be triggered by a touch, a sound or even a smell, we just don't know. I want to try a new approach, the last times he was always allowed to have family and __friends around him, there was always a lot of activity around him, and he was always in severe pain. I want to keep him in a very calm and quiet environment, maybe this way we can avoid him being in such pain. Please do not engage in touching him or talking a lot to him, that could be a cause for his pain."_

"_That is the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard," Cath just knows that she is not the cause for any pain attacks._

"_Lieutenant we just don't know what will work, we try this approach for a day and if he will have a pain attack anyway, you can go back to your normal behavior."_

"_But you have to tell him why we're acting differently, I don't want him to worry about that."_

"_Of course we will. Let's go see him."_

_Catherine is very anxious to see him, but also a bit apprehensive. Last time she laid eyes on him he was in the ICU and that was very hard on her. So when they enter, she sighs with relief to see him lying in bed without much 'stuff' around him. There is the IV with two bags on it, one she identifies as the normal saline and the other is probably that nutrition stuff he was getting at Queens. There is also the nasal canula for the oxygen and she can see a tube sneaking out from under the blanket. _He will bitch about that one again, _she smiles a little about that thought. He lies peacefully on his back with his leg elevated on a pillow and his arm also rests against a pillow at his side. He looks really rested and amazingly good for someone who was in a coma for a week. Even his color looks good and she would swear that he gained a little weight, which suits him fine, since he lost a pound or two in the week at Queens._

"_He looks good," she whispers, still amazed._

"_I promised you we would take good care of him. He is doing really well," Captain Neill is now smiling at her. "You don't have to whisper we want him to wake up," with that he is at Steve's side and gets his pen light out. He lifts one eyelid and shines the light into the eye which gets a pretty strong reaction from Steve, he is turning his head away with a loud groan._

"_Commander McGarrett can you hear me? Please open your eyes," he is shining his light into the other eye with the result that Steve tries to grab the arm with the offending light. But with him rather sluggish it is completely un-coordinated and his hand is not even near Dr. Neill's arm. But it shows that he really is waking up._

_Catherine is standing back and just watches her friend, she so hopes that he will not be in the blinding agony he was in before he was sedated a week ago. She is still mad at herself that she didn't realize in what kind of pain Steve was. For a day she was mad at him too, but that faded quickly and was replaced by worry._

"_Commander come on, you have to open your eyes," Captain Neill is getting a bit worried, McGarrett should have come around at least two hours ago. But it looks like he is still pretty dazed. Even though he knows that the Commander takes always a bit longer, he can't but worry. And then it just happens; McGarrett opens his eyes and looks at him._

_He is blinking a few times but it looks like he can't really focus on them._

"_Commander do you hear me?"_

"_Hmmm, go 'way," his eyelids are already drooping again._

"_Listen to me, you're at Tripler Medical Center, you were in a coma for a week. Commander we let you go back to sleep, we'll talk again later," with that he turns back to Catherine. "I think he needs a little bit more time to come around, you can sit with him but remember what I told you."_

_He checks all the tubes and cables and leaves them alone. It takes another hour before Steve wakes again._

H50 – H50 – H50

**Friday around noon**

When the door to his room opens Steve is hoping to see Catherine but it's just a nurse entering with a tray of food and his medication.

"Commander, I'm here to rid you of some of the tubes, I'm going to get the IV's out and I'm sure you're more than ready to get rid of the Foley. Don't worry I will be real quick," and amazingly she is. The IV is gone in a matter of seconds, the Foley takes a little longer and it hurts just like last time, but she at least tries to be gentle.

"See that was not so bad, was it?"

"Well. . . "

"I know, was more a rhetorical question. I have your pain meds here and some soft food, we really like you to try to eat something. Eat the banana and the jello if you can. You need to start drinking more water now that you're off the IV. Do you need anything?"

"Why do I still need to take pain meds, I feel fine."

"Yes Commander I know you feel fine, but that is only because you're still on medication for it, believe me you don't want to get off of them just yet. But don't worry they will not make you drowsy. Don't give your body any additional stress because you're in more discomfort than necessary."

"Okay fine. Can you get me a phone please?"

"I'll ask Dr. Neill, anything else?"

"Can you ask Dr. Jordan to come see me?"

"Yes I will try, she has a few appointments today, but I'm sure she will come by later. If you need anything else or if you get sick or need to use the bathroom press the call button."

"I can get up?"

"No Commander, Dr. Neill said you're not supposed to be out of bed yet. Maybe later this evening when you're not so dizzy anymore. Sorry."

"I'm not dizzy."

"But you will be when we you get up. Trust me you're not my first coma-patient. Do not try to get up on your own, or I will sent Sergeant Square again" she says with a very stern look at him.

Steve can only look at her, because the mention of the Sergeant is not funny to him, not one bit.

"Commander you feel all right? You're a bit pale, are you sick?"

"No I'm fine, just tired," Steve doesn't want to talk about what is just going through his head, he really needs to see JoJo.

"OK then, go to sleep, best you can do. Don't forget to eat and drink your water," with that she leaves him alone again.

Steve looks at the fruits and the jello but doesn't think that he can bring himself to eat any of it. He pushes the tray out of sight and tries to go back to sleep, it only takes him a few minutes to be successful.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Lieutenant Rollins? The Admiral is now ready to see you," the Petty Officer shows her to his office.

"Thank you."

"Catherine I'm really sorry you had to wait this long, but this was really important."

Cath asks herself what would be that important that she had to wait three hours to see the Admiral. Three hours. You can conquer countries in three hours.

"Not a problem Sir."

Of course they both know what she really thinks about that.

"I'm afraid I'm going to keep you a bit longer away from the hospital. How is Steve by the way, I couldn't talk to Neill today."

"To tell the truth I'm not sure. Whenever I saw Steve he was pretty much out of it, I couldn't talk to him yet. I'm not sure that Dr. Neill is doing the best for him."

"I know you don't like his approach but his superiors told me that he is an excellent Doctor, let's give him a chance. You were allowed to see him today again, weren't you?"

"Yeah but I still didn't like the last week one bit."

"That I can understand. Let me improve your mood. I got your transfer papers. If you want you will be transferred to the OPS-Center here in Pearl."

"Really?"

"Yes. Catherine you have to be really sure about this. I have to tell you, career-wise is this not the wisest move. It might slow down your promotion. So before you say yes to it, you have to be sure. Have you talked to Steve about it yet?"

"No I haven't. I'm not sure what he is about to say about that."

"Listen, this is not my place to say, but I know both of you for a long time. I was in the next room when Steve was born, his dad was a basket case, I really had my hands full with him. Anyway, I kind of slipped up. I kind of told Steve that you applied for a job here. Few month ago."

"Kind of?"

"Yeah well you know it just kind of slipped out."

"How did he react?"

"I've never seen him smile like that before. I highly doubt that you have anything to worry about by telling him," he is now openly smiling at her.

"Why didn't he tell me that he knows?"

"I'm sure he wants you to tell him in your own time. You know how he is. Talk to him, and soon. I need your answer next Wednesday. It's now 14:30 hours I have arranged a meeting with your 'future' CO at 15:30 hours. Talk to him about what this job entitles, I'm sure you will be kind of surprised. In a positive way. I'm sorry that it will keep you even longer away, but I think what you're about to see will make up for it. But you will not leave the base before 20:30 hours."

"Thank you Sir, I really appreciate what you're doing for me."

"The request went still through the official channels Lieutenant. I did not push anyone to approve it, that's why it took so long. But I think that is the better way."

"Thank you Sir," no matter what he says, it does help a little to have an Admiral at your back. The Navy is not different in that regard than any other big company.

Catherine leaves the Admiral and calls the hospital to let them know that she will be back there at twenty-one hundred and the request to give that information to Commander McGarrett who is still not allowed to have a phone.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading. Drop me a line if you like. <strong>_

_**As always a little sneak peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 37 – Soothe the troubled mind**

He would never have thought that being alone would throw him off kilter so much.

He comes to the realization it is not only the feeling of being abandoned by his new family, but also that he doesn't really know why. He thought for a while that they are really mad at him but it would not be their style to just not talk to him. Hell Danny would scream bloody murder at him, if he's mad and Cath would also tell him her mind in no uncertain terms. He just can't figure out what horrible thing he did that they are not even coming to see him. All this thinking and wallowing is not really that great for his headache, so he lies back and tries to think about nothing. Works after a couple minutes and he drifts off to sleep.


	38. Chapter 37 Soothe the troubled mind

**Chapter 37 – Soothe the troubled mind**

**Friday afternoon**

Steve is lying on his bed and is trying to come to terms with what is going on with him at the moment. With Catherine and his ASD that seems to be lurking in the background ready to come out again and the fact that his headache is getting a little worse with every passing hour. It's the second day that he is awake now after he spent a week in a coma. He was so happy that the pain in his head was at such a low level when he woke up, but he really should have seen this coming. Nothing goes that smooth for him, he should have seen that the pain was going to get worse again. When he woke up it was maybe a low three, only the one burst of pain he had about eight hours ago was really bad, but his constant headache is at least a six by now. And with his track record his luck will probably not last long and the level will rise even more. He is just trying to get back to sleep when the door to his room opens to reveal his doctor.

"Commander how are you doing?"

"Not so good, pain's getting worse," Steve admits, it doesn't make sense anymore to deny that he is not feeling well, costs just too much energy.

"Yeah I was afraid that that would happen. I know that six years ago you suffered for many weeks and that they tried every pain meds they could think of on you and nothing worked. Dr. Hope told me that he also tried some things. All the conventional drugs are only helping with your other pain, but are doing nothing for your head."

"I know that, what are you getting at," Steve doesn't really understand why Neill is telling him that.

"Dr. Hope called me this morning and told me that he did some research the past week. There is a new drug, it's originally developed for severe migraines. It's only out of the clinical trials for a couple of month but it's a very promising medication. Dr. Hope thinks it might help you and I concur with him and we like you to try it. The good think with it is, that it does not compromise your alertness, it will not knock you out like some of the drugs they tried on you."

"How does it work?"

"It alters the pain reception of the brain. You know that there are different ways for pain relievers to work, one way for example is to increase your tolerance for pain, most common pain reliever work like that. In simple terms _this_ drug will 'tell' your brain that there is no pain and will tell your pain receptors to shut down."

"That works?"

"With a very high efficiency rate, over 70 percent of the patients in the trial where pain free or reached a very bearable level."

"What's the downside of it," Steve does not believe in miracle medication.

"Well first of all it's extremely expensive, so insurances will not cover it. But Dr. Hope already cleared that with the Governor and his hospital, the funding for the drug is approved, if you want to try it. The second 'downside' if you will call it that, it doesn't come in pill-form. You have to inject it into your abdomen, like with the pain reliever you already know. It causes a pretty bad burning sensation and dizziness for a couple of minutes. Good side is the drug is not addictive, non-narcotic and does not harm the kidneys, which is very important in your case. You have to take it on a very strict schedule of every five hours, which is pretty inconvenient. If you are late with a dose you will get muscle cramps and of course the headache would also be back. Most patients said that it was worse than before when they forgot to take their dose. Of course after they injected again, they were fine again. When we take you off the drug for good, when we think that your headache should have been gone, we will give you a muscle relaxant to avoid the cramps."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Steve is still waiting for the really bad side effect. He could live with injecting himself every five hours and some burning sensation and dizziness.

"No it doesn't and we are sure you're disciplined enough for a drug like that. We really think it can help you. Commander you okay?"

Steve closed his eyes just a few seconds ago and tries to breathe through the pain that just assaults him. This is his second attack since he woke up, not such a bad track record, considering that he had to endure this every few minutes before the coma. But it's still a really bad one that leaves him trembling and breathless when it is over after about two minutes.

"If the drug works. . .will I still get the attacks?"

"I can't say for sure, they might be too severe to be 'covered' by the drug. I'm sorry I really don't know. It's too early to tell after just two days but they seem to be on a schedule of eight hours, if that were the case you could at least prepare yourself for them."

"So basically I don't have much to lose if I try that wonder drug of yours. How fast would we know if it works? How long do I have to take it before it starts working?"

"Right away, it doesn't need any 'warm-up' time, it either works right away or it doesn't."

"All right then; let's try it."

"Good I'm going to call Dr. Hope and tell him to order them. You will be in his care for it, he will come by tomorrow. The drug comes in ready to use syringes, you need to keep them in a cool place. Don't worry you can take them with you, there is a special box for three doses you can carry with you. Don't ever forget to take them with you, you don't want to get the cramps, believe me they are no fun. But Dr. Hope will explain everything to you in detail."

"How long do I have to take them and how will we know if I can stop taking them?"

"Well your guess is as good as mine I'm afraid. Last time you had the headache for 9 weeks?"

"Yeah pretty much, it got a bit better after four, but yeah nine is about right."

"Then I guess it will take longer this time, I would go with about three months."

"That would be more than four hundred injections," that seems an awful lot to Steve.

"Yeah it would, but I think it's worth it."

Dr. Neill leaves a short while later and Steve goes back to thinking about Cath. He is not really clear on what happened he didn't see her all day. Well okay he slept almost all day, but he remembers her being there when he had his first attack. He is still reeling a bit from the fact that she left him yesterday in the hands of that nurse, who hurt him so much. He can still feel the lingering pain from the Foley but what is way worse is he still feels her hands on him. How she pressed on his belly and how she shoved the Foley back in. He knows that he is exaggerating a lot, he is sure that she was very professional and that she didn't hurt him on purpose. But that experience threw him into a very scary mindset, it gave him a pretty bad nightmare from which he woke up crying. He just doesn't understand why Cath is suddenly so cold to him, they fought before and she was mad on occasion with him, but she never ever acted even remotely like that.

One look at the watch on the wall tells him that it's 4:30 pm now and that it will be another half hour before Danny will be here. He hoped to talk to Cath before that, but he didn't see her or hear from her all day, or from JoJo for that matter. He was pretty much alone the whole time. That is in such stark contrast to his latest stay in the hospital that he really is confused about it. He would never have thought that being alone would throw him off kilter so much.

He comes to the realization it is not only the feeling of being abandoned by his new family, but also that he doesn't really know why. He thought for a while that they are really mad at him but it would not be their style to just not talk to him. Hell Danny would scream bloody murder at him, if he's mad and Cath would also tell him her mind in no uncertain terms. He just can't figure out what horrible thing he did that they are not even coming to see him. All this thinking and wallowing is not really that great for his headache, so he lies back and tries to think about nothing. Works after a couple minutes and he drifts off to sleep.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Detective Williams, thank for complying with my instructions to see me first," Cpt. Neill is looking at the man who was starting to really get on his nerves yesterday. But now in front of him is a calm and collected man, who seems very professional, well if it weren't for that ridiculous tie around his neck.

"Sure no problem, you were pretty clear about that," Danny tries not to strangle that smiling Doctor in front of him. He is livid with anger and frustration but he can't fight the military like he wants to because that might reflect poorly on Steve and even Catherine. He can't just do that to his friends who both still have a career in the armed forces and he thinks his chances of survival with so much military around him are pretty slim anyway, so he just smiles back at him.

Any outsider can clearly see that they both try very hard to keep their real feelings towards each other under control, it's a pretty spectacular play for the nurses behind the station.

"I'm sorry that I'm so strict with the visiting rules for the commander, but we are just acting in his best interest. One very simple rule still applies. Do not stress the Commander out in any way. You can see him now, but Sergeant Square will come with you, she will leave when she is sure that you can handle to see the Commander. Is that understood?"

"I can handle to see my friend just fine, and I'm not sure it was in his best interest to keep his family and friends away from him," Danny just couldn't keep quiet. He knows if Steve were not in a military hospital, he would be at his side and no force of nature would get him away.

"Detective, the commander was sedated almost all day yesterday he is only now coming really awake, the added stress from talking to his friends would have not helped him. I'm sorry, I know that other physicians see that differently but in his case it was best to leave him alone. You can see him for fifteen minutes," with that he turns to the nurse standing next to them, "Sergeant please take Detective Williams to Commander McGarrett."

"Yes Sir, of course. Detective this way please."

Danny will never get used to the tone in the military, he knows that Steve can act like that as well, but he is very different around his friends.

Upon entering Steve's hospital room, the ugliest room Danny ever saw, they can see that he is curled on his right side and asleep.

"Detective do not wake him, you can stay and wait for him to come around. I trust you that you will leave after fifteen minutes talking to him. Don't get me in trouble for trusting you," Nurse Square whispers to him, turns and leaves him alone with his sleeping friend.

Danny takes a closer look at Steve, who he didn't see for over a week now. Looks like he is deeply asleep he doesn't even stir when Danny gets the chair closer to the bed and makes a pretty loud noise when the chair drops to the floor.

"Sorry," Danny whispers to his sleeping friend.

He settles in for the wait and is just content for now to finally be at his side again. That was a pretty tough week for all of them.

_**A week ago**_

_Danny can't believe what just happened, he was thrown out of a hospital. Well escorted out by MP's. Okay yeah well maybe he raised his voice when he talked to that 'Doctor', but that was just because he didn't want him to see Steve. How dare he keep him away from his friend? He just wanted to see that he was fine, which that 'Doctor', oh excuse me, 'Captain Doctor' assured him he was. _Yeah well assure me my ass. _As long as he is not seeing it with his own eyes he won't believe it. _I need to see Catherine, maybe she can do something about it. _Of course he highly doubts that._

_Danny is still fuming when he reaches his car and HPD would have made a fortune if they would have caught him speeding back to HQ. What he sees there does nothing to raise his mood, Catherine is there and loudly complaining that she was very early thrown out of the ICU and had her discharge papers in a matter of half an hour after that._

"_I thought you didn't need to stay in the hospital in the first place?"_

"_I didn't, I don't, I just wanted to stay with Steve," Cath is stating the obvious._

"_I know Cath, so I take it they threw you out too?"_

"_They said not to bother come back for the next week. Danny they won't let me see him," she is near tears now._

"_Hey come here, it's going to be okay, we'll ask the Admiral to help. Don't worry we're not leaving Steve alone in there," he is trying to calm her down._

_But that is exactly what happened. Nothing worked, not the Admiral, not the Governor, they were not allowed back to see Steve for the whole week he was in the artificial coma. What made that week even tougher they couldn't throw themselves into the case, because the Navy shut them very effectively out of everything. _

A noise brings him back to the present. Steve is waking up and rolls onto his back with a soft groan. He is obviously still drowsy with sleep and looks rather bleary eyed at Danny.

"Hey sleepy-head," Danny speaks very softly to him.

"Danno?"

"Yeah, hey you awake yet? You want to go back to sleep. Steve?"

"You're here. You not mad anymore," Steve's voice still sounds kind of strange after he had the tube down his throat for a week.

"What? Steve I was never mad. Why do you think I was mad at you?"

"You were not here, I'm awake two days and Cath is so mad at me and no one was here and I was all alone and you didn't come, I thought you be mad too, and that nurse was so mean and Cath left and didn't touch me and my head hurts again and I'm. . .," Steve's babbling doesn't make much sense to Danny.

"Hey, hey calm down Steve," Danny takes Steve's hand and tries to calm him down before he gets even more agitated, "come on take some deep breaths."

It only takes a minute for Steve to calm down at least somewhat.

"Steve listen to me, no one is mad at you. We were not allowed to see you, that Doctor of yours didn't let anyone see you, not even Cath. He didn't tell you?"

"No," Steve looks rather unbelieving at Danny.

"Steve I swear we tried everything to be allowed to see you, but this is a military hospital, not even your Admiral was of any help. I can't understand why you weren't told. Steve we would never abandon you, I'm so sorry you were alone. Cath is not mad at you at all, you know she loves you, everyone can see that," Danny is now openly smiling at his friend, who visibly relaxed.

"She's not mad?"

"No you idiot she is not."

"Hey you promised to wait to call me that until I'm better," but he is smiling too now.

"Yeah but aren't you? Captain Neill told me yesterday that your pain level is really low and that you're doing pretty well."

"That was yesterday, head hurts a lot more again and I had two really bad pain attacks. Pain's still rising," Steve admits how he is feeling without holding anything back, he came to the conclusion that his friends deserve to know how he feels. Makes no sense to him anymore to keep his suffering to himself.

"I'm sorry Steve, anything they can do for you?"

"Yeah, actually Dr. Hope found a new drug he likes to try. He ordered a batch of it and we're going to try it, I guess tomorrow."

"So you'll get a pill that will make your headache go away?"

"Not exactly, I need to inject the drug every five hours."

"Okay, but that will take the pain away?"

"Hopefully, I don't know Danny, I don't want to get my hopes up," Steve looks at his friend and hopes that he understands his reluctance to look forward to the new 'miracle' drug.

"Okay, then let's hope that it will work. Listen my time with you is up, I don't want to get 'escorted' out of the hospital again."

"You were thrown out?"

"Yeah I was, tell you about it later. Chin and Kono send their best wishes they will come see you tomorrow, when we're allowed to see you together and for longer."

"Danny can you please find Cath and ask her to come see me? Please?"

"Sure, I'll tell her. You rest now and Steve really don't worry no one is mad at you," he says it with a smile, but his anger at 'Captain Doctor' Neill is already boiling. That man caused his friend a lot of unnecessary pain and Danny is sure to have a word with him. He says his good buys to Steve and is out the door in search for Catherine.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>So there you have it, Danno to the rescue. Put his friend's mind at ease. So from now on no more drama for poor Steve? Yeah right, didn't think so.<strong>_

_**And again a little sneak peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 38 - Start to heal the mind**

"Just close your eyes for a few minutes, you will feel better soon," JoJo is putting another pillow under his leg and puts the small pillow back under his arm. All the while Steve is not fighting her, which worries her somewhat. When she is satisfied with her ministrations she can see that he fell asleep. So she settles down to watch him again and she is not going to leave before she can talk to him or at least until Cath will be back. She vows that he will not spent another minute alone in this hospital.

_**Annapolis March 1995**_

"_Ma'am, Midshipman McGarrett is here to see you."_


	39. Chapter 38 Start to heal the mind

**Chapter 38 - Start to heal the mind**

Only a few minutes after Danny left, JoJo peaks into the room, upon seeing that her patient is awake she enters.

"Steve how are you doing," she greets him with a warm handshake and sits down next to his bed. They only greet each other by their rank and name anymore when they are both in uniform and at an official event, all the other times they are just Steve and JoJo.

"Not so good."

"Is this still about Cath?"

"No not really, I don't know, maybe a little. Danny told me they were not allowed in here?"

"Yeah Neill was very strict with them. I could see you a few times and informed them, but it didn't help much. I told Dr. Neill that it would not be a good idea to keep your friends away, but he is in charge of your care as long as you're on his station."

"You outrank him by far."

"You know that doesn't count that much concerning medical questions, only his direct superior could have done something, but the General backed him up."

"You know where Cath is? I haven't seen her all day."

"She had to leave to see the Admiral, he called her to meet him. Don't know why, I'm sure she will be back and come here. She was really mad that no one told you that they were not allowed in here. I'm pretty sure Danny will also talk to Dr. Neill. He calls him 'Captain Doctor', I don't think he likes the Army much."

That actually gets a smile from Steve.

"Steve you up for some talking? Can we talk about Sergeant Square?"

Even the mention of her name lets Steve shudder a little, of course it gets noticed by JoJo.

"Would you like to tell me what happened? But first let me ask you something else, you might find that a little silly, because I know you're a grown man and not a three year old who needs to be reminded, but Steve, do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Steve looks at her and is actually blushing a little, "is it that obvious?"

"Yeah well your constant shifting gave you away," she smiles at him. "Why didn't you call someone?"

"I can't, they won't let me get up," he is a nice shade of red now and whispers "the Sergeant is out there."

Dr. Jordan hears that with great worry, she was not aware that the episode yesterday rattled him this much. In the interest of not letting him go through another experience that would be downright horrible for him, she decides to go against medical advice.

"Do you think you could get up when I help you," she never saw such a hopeful look on anyone before.

"Yes I can do that," he is not even waiting but throws his covers back to get out of bed, only to be reminded that he is still only clad in a flimsy hospital gown. He is sure that if anyone would see the color of his face right now they would think that he suffered a heatstroke.

"Oh come on Steve, you don't have anything that my three sons don't have, not even to mention my husband," while talking she is helping him sitting up, "You feel dizzy or nauseas?"

"A little."

"You're not going to puke at my feet again, are you?"

"I'll try my best, can we please move on," now being upright makes his need to go to the bathroom even more urgent. Gravity is a funny thing and not helping matters.

"When did you last go," JoJo is surprised at how stable he actually is on his feet when they hobble to the bathroom.

"I haven't been since that damn tube was out," he rather sheepishly admits.

"Steve! That was over six hours ago. That is not good, you should have gone shortly after the Foley was out. I'm sorry but this is gonna hurt," she is shaking her head, but more at herself because she should have seen this coming. Or at least should have made sure that his nurses are aware that there might be a problem.

They reach the bathroom without incident and after making sure that he is stable enough to manage on his own she stands in front of the door but leaves the door slightly ajar. She can clearly hear his hiss of pain but he is obviously able to relieve himself without problem. After hearing the flush of the toilet and the water running she calls out to him, "You decent in there, can I come in?"

"Yeah, please," Steve got dizzy a few seconds ago and is now holding on to the sink.

"Hey hey, don't fall down," JoJo is grabbing his arm just in time, "Can you make it back?"

"Think so, wow she was right."

"Who?"

"The nurse, she said I will get dizzy if I get up. She was right," they make it back to bed and Steve is not even embarrassed anymore when JoJo needs to help him to lay down, the room is spinning and he grabs the bedrail to not fall out of his bed. Which of course is impossible anyway, but he feels like falling. A completely new sensation of dizziness.

"Just close your eyes for a few minutes, you will feel better soon," JoJo is putting another pillow under his leg and puts the small pillow back under his arm. All the while Steve is not fighting her, which worries her somewhat. When she is satisfied with her ministrations she can see that he fell asleep. So she settles down to watch him again and she is not going to leave before she can talk to him or at least until Cath will be back. She vows that he will not spent another minute alone in this hospital.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**Annapolis March 1995**_

"_Ma'am, Midshipman McGarrett is here to see you."_

"_Thank you Petty Officer please sent him in."_

"_Yes Ma'am."_

_In front of her desk stands again Steve McGarrett at perfect attention, she must admit he does look better than the last time she saw him._

"_Are you feeling better Steven," she just loves the faces he is making, they are of high entertaining value, "Please have a seat."_

"_Thank you ma'am," he sits down in the chair he last sat and notices that she got a new waste basket, which makes him cringe a little._

"_I didn't like the old one much anyway, Steven don't worry about it."_

_He smiles a little at that but gets serious again, "Ma'am can I ask you something?"_

"_Yes of course Steven."_

"_Can you please not call me Steven, Ma'am?"_

"_That is your name, why don't you like to be called that?"_

"_I go by Steve," he looks at her and decides to elaborate that, even though he doesn't know why. "Only my Mom called me Steven. As a form of endearment," he softly adds._

"_Oh I see. Steve it is," she smiles warmly at him and she knows that they just bonded over the right use of his name._

H50 – H50 – H50

JoJo lies her papers down she was working on, when Steve starts to mumble something in his sleep. Seconds later it is clear that he is in distress, obviously having a nightmare, from which he wakes with a start. He looks around seemingly disoriented until his gaze settles on JoJo who is next to him holding his hand and smiling down at him.

"Hey," he croaks out.

"You like some water or ice-chips?"

"Ice would be great, throat hurts a bit."

"I can imagine. They brought you some food and some ice a few minutes ago," she gives him a spoonful of the ice. "You think you can eat something, it's just some. . .I'm not even sure what it is, looks like mashed bananas or something, sorry not very appetizing."

"Urg, you can have it. I just stick with the ice."

"At least eat the jello, look it's red."

"Did you ever see red jello when it comes back up? Believe me you don't want to. JoJo I'm really not hungry," the thought about food makes him nauseous, which kind of irritates him a little. Last time he could eat ten days after his accident, obviously it takes a little longer this time around. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? Peeling the banana, you can try that," she has it in pieces and in front of him in no time.

He looks at her most annoyed but puts a piece of it in his mouth anyway and after a taste of it his stomach grumbles loudly.

"Right, not hungry at all," but she keeps the smile in her voice.

It takes him only five minutes to eat all the fruit, even the few grapes he normally doesn't like much.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Let's just wait a few minutes before you start to celebrate," Steve is still doubtful that he will keep it down.

"So are you comfortable, you like some more ice," she gives him another spoon, "Can we talk about yesterday?"

"Hmmmm."

"You want to talk about something else that is bothering you?"

"Hmmm. Are you on the clock?"

"No Steve, this is not an official session. This is just two friends talking."

"Oh," Steve seems very interested in his cast on his arm, not really a fascinating object to look at, but he seems to think differently. He always did that, always using an object to concentrate on when he is debating to talk or not. When he starts to fiddle with the edges of his cast JoJo speaks up.

"Steve are you mad at Catherine?"

"What?"

"Are you blaming her for what happened yesterday," JoJo is speaking softly to him, she figured out a long time ago that he is responding best when spoken softly to. It probably makes it all the more private and not out in the open for him. She can live with that as long he is talking to her.

"I don't mean to," he is talking in his therapy-voice as JoJo named it. It's very different to his normal deep and smooth voice. When he goes into therapy mode and opens up to her he changes his voice, not deliberately it's a subconscious thing. It's still very smooth but there is no hard edge in it and it's a little bit higher his speech pattern also changes lightly.

"I know you don't. What do you blame her for?"

"She left me alone. . .I was so drowsy from the sedation. . .and that damn tube got tangled. . .it hurt and I just wanted her to help me. . .but she left me. . .and then was the Sergeant there. . .she hurt me. . .and Cath only came back when I was almost asleep again," Steve is taking some deep breaths and JoJo is not interrupting she knows that he is not finished that the important part is still to come, "When Square pushed the Foley back. . .I. . .saw pictures. . .it was different. . .it was not really a flashback. . .I don't think. . .I was still in the bed. . .but they were so violent. . .there was so much blood. . .and she really hurt me. . .but that was not the worst. . .Cath was there and she was just watching me. . .she didn't help me."

"Cath was in the room?"

"What? NO, I just saw her. . .I don't know. . .she was in the pictures. . .I think. . .I don't know JoJo. . .suddenly I was lying with both my legs elevated on the bed. . .I could barely breathe and it hurt so much. . .and I didn't really know if it happened or not."

"You haven't talked to Cath yet, have you?"

"No I was always pretty out of it when she was here. JoJo I miss her and I don't know, I'm so confused. We were in the hospital then we got kidnapped, JoJo she was so great. Then we escaped and everything up until then was great. Well you know what I mean, between us everything was great. And the next minute everything is so different. When I went to sleep everything was good and when I wake up my whole world has changed. I didn't have seven long days in between those two moments, for me it was like I go to sleep and next minute I wake up and she hates me."

"Steve she doesn't hate you, don't say that."

"I know."

"Listen to me, Dr. Neill kept everyone away from you and kept you under sedation even after you were out of the coma. You're just now kind of awake and I can understand that you are very confused. But Steve I promise you between you two is everything as it was before the coma. She would never watch you get hurt, you know that don't you? You will see that everything is fine when you talk to her. Tell her how you feel about that she left you alone. She is really sorry about that. I'm sure that you two will work it out," she is looking at Steve who looks really exhausted, "I can see that you're really tired and that your head hurts, we will talk about what happened with the Sergeant a bit more tomorrow. Is that okay for you?"

"Yeah. JoJo, Dr. Hope is coming by tomorrow, can you please be here?"

"Yeah sure I'll be here. You're going to try the new drug then?"

"Yeah, they think it's a good idea."

"You don't? Steve do you want to try it?"

"I think so, I don't know, I just don't want to hope for too much, you know."

"Yeah I understand that. Try to sleep some more, Cath will be here soon, I'm sure. Oh and by the way, the fruit is still in," she is now grinning at him.

Steve is grinning back at her in the hope that it keeps staying where it belongs. It doesn't take long for sleep to conquer him.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>There seems to be quite a bit of work for JoJo. <strong>_

_**Thank you all for reading and sticking with the story.**_

_**Now as always a little peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 39 – Cath is back**

When Catherine enters the room, she can see that JoJo is sitting next to Steve who is dozing in bed. He looks up at her when he hears her coming in to the room and very shyly smiles at her.

Dr. Jordan is saying her good byes and leaves them alone with the promise to be back in the morning.

"Hey sailor, how you're doing," Cath takes Steve's hand and gives him a very gentle kiss, almost like she is scared that he doesn't want her to kiss him. She looks worriedly at him when he doesn't answer her question, he lies with his eyes closed, but he doesn't seem to be in pain. When he looks at her she can see a myriad of emotions in his eyes, he seems to be overwhelmed with feelings.


	40. Chapter 39 Cath is back

**Chapter 39 – Cath is back**

When Catherine enters the room, she can see that JoJo is sitting next to Steve who is dozing in bed. He looks up at her when he hears her coming in to the room and very shyly smiles at her.

Dr. Jordan is saying her good byes and leaves them alone with the promise to be back in the morning.

"Hey sailor, how you're doing," Cath takes Steve's hand and gives him a very gentle kiss, almost like she is scared that he doesn't want her to kiss him. She looks worriedly at him when he doesn't answer her question, he lies with his eyes closed, but he doesn't seem to be in pain. When he looks at her she can see a myriad of emotions in his eyes, he seems to be overwhelmed with feelings.

"I missed you so much," he finally whispers.

That just does it for Cath, she can't hold back anymore and engulfs him in a hug, an awkward one, since he is lying in bed, she almost crawls into bed with him in her need to feel him. She has her arms around him and holds him in a half sitting position. "Steve I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you, that you were alone. Please forgive me, Steve I'm so sorry," she whispers over and over how sorry she is.

Steve is not saying anything, he can't because Cath is pressing on his ribs and it really hurts, but he doesn't want her to let go, ever. So he just holds on to her with one good arm and very clumsily with his broken arm.

Suddenly Cath lets go a little and very gently pushes him back onto the bed, "Damn Steve I'm hurting you, why don't you say something," she is now looking at him with a face he can't really name.

"I didn't want you to let go again," he says while holding his arching ribs, "I'm fine you didn't hurt me."

"Yeah right I can see that, you can barely breathe," she is chiding herself for not being more careful.

"Don't be ridiculous Cath, I'm fine, really."

She doesn't really believe him, but she lets it slide for now. Instead she bents down and gives him another kiss and it seems that he likes this one a lot more than the shy one from earlier. She settles down in the chair that was occupied for the last few hours by JoJo and takes his hand in hers.

"Steve I am really sorry that you were alone here and that you were to believe that I was mad at you. Or that the others were mad. I am so sorry about that. I know that you must be really confused right now, but believe me when I tell you that I love you and I would never ever leave you like that. Can you believe that?"

"Yeah, it's just that yesterday you were so cold and you left me alone with that Sergeant when I was not even really awake. Cath she hurt me and I thought you didn't care and I just couldn't figure out what I have done to make you so mad. I was not really clearheaded and I only realize now that most of what happened was only in my head. But it felt so real and I was so confused. I know that you love me and that you would never hurt me on purpose," Steve has trouble putting in words what he is feeling. He figured out that all his distress he had gone through the last two days were mostly because he was still pretty heavily sedated and not really clear on what happened around him. He only knows that he was left alone but couldn't get the concept of why that happened. So his head made up this scenario that he was left because everyone was mad at him. That he was abandoned by his friends and family, he knows that it is not his fault, but still he feels a little guilty that his friends are now feeling guilty.

"Steve we should not have agreed on the terms of Dr. Neill, we should have fought him more. It was wrong to leave you alone, he should have seen that you could not understand why that happened. 'I' should have realized that you did not understand what was happening around you. And I'm truly sorry about that."

"It was all so strange, I woke up in a different room, in a different hospital even and nothing was like it was, I couldn't really understand what was going on. I hate that feeling of not being in control," he smiles at her a bit sheepishly, because he knows that he was kind of babbling since she came to see him. "Are we good," he asks her almost a bit scared.

"Yes Steve we are and maybe we can try to keep going from where we were before Dr. Hope put you in the coma," she hopefully responds.

"I'd like that. Please tell me how you are, Dr. Hope told me you had a concussion, are you okay?"

"When did he tell you that?"

"When he prepped me for surgery. Are you okay?"

"Yes Steve I'm fine I only had a very mild concussion, no nausea, no dizziness not even a headache the next day."

"That's good. Why am I here at Tripler?"

"I wanted you out of Queens, a week ago we still didn't know who the contact was and I just thought you wouldn't be save there. So the Admiral made sure that you got here. Now I wished we hadn't done that, it would have spared you a lot of drama."

"Danny didn't tell me anything about what happened after we escaped. Did they find out who the contact was?"

"Steve you sure you up to this, you look really tired and a little flushed."

"I am tired and I have a light fever, I got an infection because of the damn Foley but they gave me some antibiotics when JoJo was here, I should be fine soon."

Catherine knows that infection is always a risk if any foreign object is inserted in any part of your body, but she was hoping that he would be lucky for once. "How about I tell you what I was doing at the Admiral today and we keep the detective-stuff for the detectives tomorrow?"

"Okay sounds good. Cath can you get me some more ice, maybe even real ice cream and not just chips."

"Does your throat still hurt?"

"A little."

It only takes about five minutes before the nurse Cath called organized some ice cream that Steve is now happily diving in to.

"Is it good?"

"Mmmhmmm, you want some?"

"No thanks that's fine, you just eat it," she says with a laugh while seeing him obviously enjoying the chocolate ice cream.

"Hope it will agree with all the fruit I already ate," Steve looks somewhat worriedly at his snack but doesn't stop eating his bowl of ice cream, "So what were you doing all day at the base?"

"First of all I waited. Three hours. Can you imagine he let me wait for three hours," Cath is still a little bit angry at the lost time, but some things are just not avoidable, "Steve a few month ago, well actually six month ago I ask the Admiral if I could get stationed at Pearl," she looks somewhat apprehensive at Steve but he only smiles at her while putting another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. She must admit it looks rather delicious, and she is not referring to the chocolate ice cream. "He told me I could get my transfer papers if I wanted them."

"Do you? Want them I mean? Do you want to stay here, I mean you love your job and I could understand if you didn't want to, to stay here, I mean it would mean. . ."

"Steve stop babbling. When did you pick up that habit anyway?"

"I always use a lot of words when I'm nervous," he has to admit, since they both know that he does tent to do that.

"I want to stay here. If you want me around more often that is."

"Hey I told you it would have its benefits to have you stationed at Pearl, remember during the fake tsunami."

"I thought you were kidding."

"Nope, I mean it. I would love to have you here. But Cath you cannot choose that job because of me. You have to be sure that it's something you like to do. If you start to hate your job, our relationship would suffer from that. I want you to be happy in your job."

"I haven't even told you what my job would be," she grins at him.

"Okay I bite what will be your job?"

"Well I would work at the OPS Center but I have a second job as a liaisons-officer to the different police forces on the islands. You know HPD, NCIS and that new task force, what are they called, oh yeah Five-0," she is now openly grinning at him.

"And what does a liaisons-officer exactly do?"

"I'm not so sure about that yet myself. I talked to my future CO and he said that it would be my job to talk to the chief of police and head of Five-0 from time to time. You ever met them?"

"Yeah one of them is a really nice guy."

"Oh yeah that's what I heard about the chief of police too," she grins right back at him.

"So that means we would kind of work together on occasion? And you would provide us with information, or what?"

"I guess so, I think that whole thing is not really thought out yet, guess we learn as we go. But I think it can be really interesting."

"Yeah sounds good, so you gonna take it?"

"Yes I'm taking it."

Steve is not saying anything, the smile he is giving her is saying more than he ever could with words. Cath takes his smiling as an invitation to some more kissing and it's obvious that Steve is not opposing that idea. Soon they are engaged in a rather heated kissing game when they are interrupted by a nurse.

"Excuse me," Sergeant Square is almost shouting at them with a face that is not to be mistaken.

"Commander here is your medication for the night, I'm sure the Lieutenant is going to leave in a few minutes. Do you need my help with anything?"

"No," Cath never heard such a meekly voice from him.

"Good. Lieutenant the Commander needs his rest, visiting hours are long over, please leave in the next ten minutes," with that she is gone.

Cath is looking at Steve and can see that he is almost trembling, "Hey are you okay? Steve do you feel sick, is it the ice cream?"

"No I'm not sick," he is closing his eyes for a few seconds, "that woman scares me," he only whispers now.

Now it dawns on Cath what just happened, "She's the one who hurt you. Steve do you want me to spent the night?"

"No, this is not Queens, we'll get in trouble if you stay here. Go home, I'll be fine. Cath it's okay, really. I'm just going to sleep anyway," she can see that he has trouble staying awake already.

"OK, but listen, I've brought your phone and if you need me or if you just want to talk, you call me. No matter what time it is. Promise me."

"I promise."

"Okay you want to settle down for the night, you need anything?"

"Yeah can you help me to the bathroom?"

"Sure," Cath has to laugh when she pulls the cover back to help him out of bed, "very catchy clothes you have there."

"Very funny. Can you bring me some clothes tomorrow," they make it to the bathroom and Cath leaves him doing his business.

"You okay in there?"

"Fine."

When he comes out of the bathroom she has to laugh again at his really short hospital gown, "I bet they searched high and low for that short thing."

He makes it back to bed on his own all the while grumbling.

After Cath makes sure that he is comfortably tucked in his bed she kisses him good bye, which takes a bit longer since he assures her that they need to make up for lost time.

"Hey we lost a week while I was just sleeping around, I mean lying around sleeping," Cath is always amazed how this grown man can blush so furiously in a matter of seconds.

"I think it's time for you to go to sleep," she kisses his forehead one more time, "I love you, sleep well. I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning."

"Hmmm, love you too, night," he mumbles only half awake.

Cath waits another minute until his breathing is even and she is sure that he is asleep. After one last gentle kiss she turns to leave for the night.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>Finally they are on the same page again. NOW Steve can start to heal.<strong>_

_**And again a little peek into the next chapter:**_

**Chapter 40 – Today's the day**

Danny Williams is entering the hospital when he is intercepted by Dr. Jordan, "Danny good morning, I was hoping to see you before you go to see Steve. Can I have a minute with you?"

"Morning, yeah sure," he is following her to her office.

It's located on the fourth floor, oddly enough in the administration part of the hospital. He would have thought she'd be on the psych-ward.

"I'm only a guest here Danny, I'm not Army, but this hospital is for all the armed forces in the Pacific, it's the biggest clinic around. So there are quite a few exchange-programs running, that's why I have an office here. This was the only one big enough for my purpose. You were wondering about that, right?"

"Yeah I was. So this is where you see Steve?"


	41. Chapter 40 Today is the day

_**We are slowly coming to an end. Only a few more chapters to go. Until the sequel that is. :-)**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 40 – Today's the day<strong>

**Saturday morning**

Today will be the day. The day they will try out the new drug. Dr. Neill just explained that they have to wait another couple hours before they can inject the first dose, Dr. Hope will be here then as well. First all the other pain meds need to clear his system. Steve can already feel the increase of pain in his leg and his ribs. He's actually pretty surprised when his leg starts to hurt, even more so when his ribs start to bother him. He's lying on his side for hours by now without too much of a problem and his leg hasn't hurt much the last couple days. But it's pretty clear now that the pain reliever was the reason for that. Still he thinks that his leg shouldn't hurt much anymore, it's two weeks now since he broke it, his arm really doesn't hurt anymore, well at least almost. Dr. Neill told him that his leg will hurt a bit longer because he abused it so much before he should have put any weight on it.

_Yeah as if I had a choice_. But the orthopedic surgeon who was in half an hour ago assured him that everything is healing very nicely and that he should get rid of the arm cast in about four weeks, since the healing of the bone is progressing very well. He told him that he might need to wear a protective brace on his forearm for another week or so, but at least his elbow would be out of the cast and he could start physical therapy. The leg however will at least take another six weeks, probably even longer.

Dr. Neill also informed him that the surgery on the small tear in his lung was a complete success and everything looks really good, the incision is also really small and is already pretty much healed. His ribs are progressing slowly but everything looks good. His kidneys are back to one hundred percent. Only thing left to do now is getting his head pain-free and then he can go home in a couple of days.

He is looking at the watch on the wall again and sees that it is almost eight now and if Dr. Neill is right he will suffer his next burst of pain in a couple of minutes. _At least you can prepare yourself for it_, he still hears him say. Problem is Steve has no idea how to prepare for the blinding agony that will go on in his head. How someone can prepare for the feeling that one's head is exploding, that the brain tries with brutal force to get out of its shell. The pain is so intense that it always takes his breath away and leaves him completely defenseless. The only thing that helps a little is when Catherine presses on his forehead during the attack. He has the suspicion that it is not the pressure put the hand behind it, because it's not helping when he's doing it by himself. He almost sighs with relief when the door opens and reveals Catherine who enters with a smile on her face. They are in a really good place after their long talk yesterday. She puts his backpack in the corner and is at his bedside in seconds.

"Good morning," she bents down and kisses him not so gently but rather urgently.

"Wow that was a kiss to wake up to," he can't but grin at her.

"Yeah I think we need to make up for lost time," she smooths his hair back and gently kisses his now fading bruise on the forehead, "How was your night?"

"Had an attack at midnight, was really bad, I think I passed out," he promised himself never to keep something like that from her again.

"It's almost eight, you really think you will get one every eight hours?"

"It seems that way. I'm really glad you're here," Steve closes his eyes when he feels the pain coming. He cries out by the sheer force with which the pain just overwhelms him. He is barely aware that Cath is next to him, pressing her hand on his forehead in the small attempt to help ease the agony he is in. As always it takes a little over two minutes before he relaxes some and can breathe more easily, his heart is beating wildly against his chest and his muscles are screaming from the extortion of being in such a tense state for a short but very intense while.

"Is it better now," Cath is still holding his hand and gently stroking his forehead.

"Yeah thanks. Listen I like to ask you a favor. Danny wants to be here when I take the new drug. I'm not sure that I want the team here. It's okay for them to be here and share the success but I don't want anyone here if it's not working. Well I'd like you to be here, but nobody else. If it's not working can you get them all out please?"

"Yeah sure, I'll make sure that they leave. But Steve I just know that this will work, I have a really good feeling about it. You'll see, it will be fine."

"I hope so, it would mean that I can live a relative normal live the next few weeks. The injections every five hours will be really annoying but I would not be able to function with the level of pain I'm constantly in," Steve admits.

"Your head is way worse than the last time, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away."

"Steve stop it, we went over that yesterday, let's not talk about it again, okay? Now we'll only concentrate on getting you home. Without the headache."

Cath moves over to the corner of the room where she dropped the backpack she was carrying earlier. She picks it up and brings it back to the bed where Steve is now sitting up and looks at her expectantly.

"Did you bring me some clothes," he really can't wait to get rid of that damn hospital gown.

Cath smiles at his eagerness to get out of the hospital gown and into somewhat more normal attire, "Yeah I did. I have some t-shirts, sweatpants and some new cargos. Of course also socks and stuff. So if you want to change," she doesn't need to wait for an answer for that, because he is already swinging his legs out of the bed, not without some wincing, which of course gets noticed by Cath.

"Hey you okay?"

"Yeah fine, just no pain killers in my system any more. Hurts more than I thought to move around, can you help me up please," he sits on the edge of the bed and waits for Cath to grab his arm.

They make it to the bathroom without any problems and Steve is dressed in sweatpants and t-shirt really quick, he gets rather dizzy on the way back but makes it back to bed on his own without falling down. After a week lying in bed even such a short trip back and forth to the bathroom tires him out. He is just lying back down, this time on the covers of his bed, when Dr. Hope comes to visit.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams is entering the hospital when he is intercepted by Dr. Jordan, "Danny good morning, I was hoping to see you before you go to see Steve. Can I have a minute with you?"

"Morning, yeah sure," he is following her to her office.

It's located on the fourth floor, oddly enough in the administration part of the hospital. He would have thought she'd be on the psych-ward.

"I'm only a guest here Danny, I'm not Army, but this hospital is for all the armed forces in the Pacific, it's the biggest clinic around. So there are quite a few exchange-programs running, that's why I have an office here. This was the only one big enough for my purpose. You were wondering about that, right?"

"Yeah I was. So this is where you see Steve?"

"Most of the times, yes. Come on have a seat," she is indicating the comfy looking armchair in front of her desk.

"What no couch?"

"I'm not Freud, Danny. Besides most of my patients are not outpatients like Steve, but are here in the hospital. Most of them I only see for a short time while they are hospitalized. It's very rare that I get the opportunity to stay in contact as long as with Steve."

"You refer to Steve as a patient?"

"Yes of course Danny. Steve suffered from ASD, we have to address that once in a while. And yes of course he is my patient. He will be as long as he wants to or at least as long as he is in the Navy. There are mandatory visits as well. Just like you have to see the department shrink once in a while."

"Don't remind me," that is the part of his job he really hates. Seeing the department shrink after a shooting.

"You are not very open to therapy, are you?"

"No I'm not, I don't see the benefit in telling someone if I hated my childhood or not."

"Did you hate your childhood Danny," she is looking at him with a serious face, before she breaks out into a smile, "just kidding. But you know it's different for everyone. I'm sure you saw some awful things in your line of duty, but believe me when I tell you that those things are nothing compared to what people like Steve saw during their duty. Some of them need help to handle those traumas, like Steve does. It's not a sign of weakness to seek help, Danny. I hope you don't see it that way."

"I don't. I would never see Steve as weak because he sees a therapist. Really I don't."

"Well I hope not. The ones who are battling their demons head on are nothing but brave."

"I'm pretty sure you didn't want to see me to talk about the benefits of therapy," Danny is getting uncomfortable discussing Steve's therapy. If he is honest with himself he doesn't know what he thinks about it at the moment. He would have bet all his money on Steve never in a millions years to see a therapist. He would never have guessed that Steve has 'issues' that he needs help with, no matter how much he jokes about him needing therapy after some stunts of his. He hasn't come to terms yet with the concept that his friend saw such horrible things that he can't deal with them on his own. That he is just human after all.

"No I didn't. Just one more thing, you should talk to Steve about your reservations about him seeing me."

"I don't have any reservations about him needing help," his response is way too strong to make that statement believable.

"Okay if you say so," JoJo is looking at Danny and is shortly debating to talk some more about it or not. She often gets that response when people learn that such strong men as Steve see a therapist. She is really glad that Steve stands above such responses, he had to endure some ribbing from his team-mates and even from some of his superiors, but he always stood up for what he believes is right. Right for himself or others. That's why he even fought for the right to see her even after his sessions were cut short by the bureaucrats who wanted to save some money. She really hopes that Danny will not make fun of him when they talk about that. Danny is the first person, whose opinion really matters to Steve. He called him his first real best friend of adulthood. He had a lot of close team mates and friends, but never a partner and friend as important as Danny. She really hopes that Danny is aware of that.

"I wanted to talk to you about what is going to happen if the drug is not working."

"It will," Danny just doesn't want to think about the alternative.

"I hope so Danny, but we really don't know. They tried a lot of drugs on Steve over the course of the years, nothing ever worked. I really do hope that this will, because this time it is way worse than the years before. Steve is suffering a great deal, more than ever before and it will only get worse. I talked to Dr. Hope if the drug is not working they don't have much choice but to put him back under."

"Put him in a coma for weeks?"

"Yes. Danny the pain he is in is so severe and will come in such short intervals that his heart won't last long. The stress of the attacks is enormous, Steve is a very healthy young man, but that would kill him."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes he does. Danny, he was very reluctant to let you and the rest of the team to be there when he gets the first injection. He wants you there if it works, you deserve to see that, he said, but if it doesn't he wants to be alone."

"Yeah figured as much. I already talked to Chin and Kono about it and we agreed to leave him with Cath if it's not working. Don't worry we will be there for him in whatever form he needs us."

JoJo smiles at him and is very happy to see that Steve is obviously as important to Danny as he is to Steve.

"OK, let's go see him, Dr. Hope should be here by now."

They leave the office and it only takes them a few minutes to reach Steve's room.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Dr. Hope how is Philip," Steve hasn't had a chance to ask about him yet, Cath only told him that he was still critical.

"We are hopeful that he will wake up soon, he's showing first signs of coming out of the coma. We stopped the sedation two days ago, now it's up to him."

"When he wakes up, will he be all right?"

"We don't know, we tried to do only minimal damage to the brain when we got the bullet out, but it's really too soon to tell. We can only hope for the best. But I think he will make it. Now let's talk about you. Dr. Neill informed you about the basics of the drugs? You have any questions about that?"

"Dr. Neill said it would be really expensive, who is covering for it?"

"One injection is about two hundred dollars."

"What? That would be a grand a day."

"Yeah that's about right. Steve this drug is completely new, it's not a mass product which would make it a lot cheaper. It's a very special medication, which is very expensive to produce. The funding will be split. Half of it by the manufacturer because you are a case study for them; the rest is split three ways, by the Navy, by the Governor's Special Fund and by Queens Medical, because frankly you're a case study for us as well. But Steve don't worry about the funding, that's not important. Important is that it works and will give you your life back."

"Dr. Neill said I need to keep it in a cool place?"

"Yes that's important. But it stays viable for about twenty four hours so you can take three doses in the special case with you. Steve it is very important to take the drug every five hours, I'm sorry that you have to inject it so often but after about five hours the level of the medication in your blood will decrease rapidly. You will have a window of not more than about ten minutes."

"What happens after that, if I can't inject for whatever reason?"

"You will get extremely painful muscle cramps in various parts of your body, no way to know where. If that happens you will not be able to inject again on your own, none of the patients in the trial were able to do that. And of course after a short while your headache would be back, everyone said the pain was worse than before. But as soon as you can get your next dose you will be fine."

"So if this works, you will order the amount of syringes I need?"

"Yes, the manufacturer is only waiting for word and he will deliver on Monday. I already have enough for three days, so you're covered until they are here."

"How long do you think I need to take them?"

"I think to be on the safe side about twelve weeks. I know that seems really long and a lot of injections, but I think it is important that you stop only when you are pain free. If you stop and you're still in pain, it could prolong the process. So to be save I'd say twelve weeks, of course that is just estimation."

"Are there any long term effect?"

"Not that we know of, Steve the drug only uses substances that are already in your body chemistry. Nothing synthetic, so there should be no long term side effects. The drug is definitely not addictive, not even psychological. The only side effect is the burning sensation when you inject and a couple of minutes of dizziness."

"I'm still waiting for the bad news."

"Well the only bad news is that we can't be sure that it works. And you have to come by every week to see me for blood tests and an interview of how you're doing, but that's it."

Steve looks at Cath to see if she got any more questions but it doesn't seem to be the case.

"Okay. Do we have to wait some more?"

"I'm going to take some blood to see if you're 'clean' now and then we can start," with that he draws some blood from Steve and leaves to get it tested.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thank you all so much for reading. Drop me a line if you like.<strong>_

_**And as always a little peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 41 – Take your best shot**

Chin and Kono join the others shortly after Dr. Hope leaves to get the blood tested. Steve can't stop feeling a little apprehensive about them all being here. To him it feels like they are partying before they won the game. But on the other hand he is really happy to see all the people who are so important to him in one place, even though it gets a little bit crowded in the room and the noise level is higher than he likes it to be. But he is not complaining since all his friends are here and he really missed them, so he is smiling and endures the loud chatter.

"Steve how much longer will you be stuck here," Kono wants to know.

"Well that depends on the next half hour. If everything works I'll be out of here on Monday. If not, I'll get transferred back to Queens into the care of Dr. Hope," Steve is not elaborating on what will happen there.


	42. Chapter 41 Take your best shot

_**I just found out that there are all kinds of statistics for a published story. I have to tell you I'm completely blown away by the sheer volume of hits. Thank you all so much, I really had no idea how many people are reading the story. **_

_**So I figured I should update my profile a little, check it out if you like. I also put up what I'm working on and what to expect next.**_

_**But now let's go back to the story and let's find out if the drug will work or not.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 41 – Take your best shot<strong>

Chin and Kono join the others shortly after Dr. Hope leaves to get the blood tested. Steve can't stop feeling a little apprehensive about them all being here. To him it feels like they are partying before they won the game. But on the other hand he is really happy to see all the people who are so important to him in one place, even though it gets a little bit crowded in the room and the noise level is higher than he likes it to be. But he is not complaining since all his friends are here and he really missed them, so he is smiling and endures the loud chatter.

"Steve how much longer will you be stuck here," Kono wants to know.

"Well that depends on the next half hour. If everything works I'll be out of here on Monday. If not, I'll get transferred back to Queens into the care of Dr. Hope," Steve is not elaborating on what will happen there.

"Steve it will work and you will be back at HQ and be your usual pain in the ass sooner than we like you too," Danny tries to lighten his mood some, but can understand that he is very careful in his hope that the drug will work.

Steve can't help but messing a little with Danny for the 'pain-in-the-ass' comment, "Sorry that you feel that way about me, don't worry I won't be bugging you at work, I'll stay at home," he says with a dead serious expression on his face.

It takes Danny a few seconds to get it, "Yeah right, as if you could stay away for more than a week."

"Wanna bet?"

"What?"

"I'll bet that I won't set foot into HQ in the next four weeks," Steve is willing to challenge Danny.

"Ha, that's like candy from a baby. What will I get if, no scratch that, when I win?"

"I'll do your paperwork for six weeks," since that will happen anyway, since Steve won't go out in the field for at least the next ten weeks, but Danny doesn't know that yet.

"And if I lose?"

"You my friend will accompany us on a trip."

"What trip and who is 'us'?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

"Deal."

"Cath you can book the trip," Steve laughs.

"Wait you're all in on this?"

"Danny that was way too easy," Kono can't hold back any longer and breaks out laughing as well.

"Why do I get the feeling that I was just set up?"

"Wow, Danny, you a detective or something," Steve is still chuckling.

"I'll get you for this my friend," but he is smiling back. He loves to see his friend in such a good mood.

"Give it your best shot."

Their easy banter gets interrupted when Mark Hope is back. And this time he carries a little black box with him.

"Steve your system is cleared of all pain reliever, only the antibiotics are still there but that's ok. So if you're ready we can do it now."

Everyone steps back from the bed to give them some room.

"Yeah okay, how long does it need to start working?"

"After the injection not more than ten minutes. If there is no change after ten minutes, it will not work," with that he is opening the black box. In it are three syringes filled with a clear liquid. "Okay, here take one of these," he gives Steve one of the syringes which is packed in a sterile wrapper, "First peel off the foil on the back and take out the alcohol wipe to clean the patch of skin where you inject."

"That's practical," Steve take the wipe and cleans a patch of skin next to his naval.

"Okay, now take the syringe out and clear the air out. You've done this before," it's obvious by how Steve is handling the syringe, "Okay listen, push the needle straight in and press the plunger down slowly. It's just three milliliters, but it will really hurt. You will feel a burning sensation that will spread. It's different with everyone, some felt pain in their back others only around the injection site, most felt the pain traveling south. For some it varies with each injection. So prepare for that. After about a minute you will get dizzy, so you should sit down after you take the meds. But it will only last for a minute. I hope it won't make you sick."

Steve has the syringe still in his hand and didn't make a move to inject himself with it yet. He looks at his friends, takes a deep breath and pushes the needle into his abdominal muscles. He pushes the plunger down slowly and pulls the needle out in one swift motion. There's no blood. The onset of burning pain is almost instantaneously, it's nothing like he felt before, and it's traveling with lightning speed down his belly.

"Argh, you weren't kidding," he pulls his legs up and tries to breathe through the very uncomfortable sensation.

"First time is always the worst, it gets better after a few injections, just breathe through it."

It only lasts for about half a minute, then he can feel the pain abating and after another thirty seconds it's only a memory, but now he gets dizzy and he is sure if he weren't lying in bed he would fall down. The room is spinning and he is not sure which sensation is worse, the pain or the dizziness.

"I think I gonna be sick," Steve is trying his best to keep the nausea at bay that came up a few seconds ago. Before he can actually lose his breakfast the dizziness and nausea are gone.

"Steve you feel okay now," Dr. Hope got worried when Steve said he was sick, but it seems that he is fine now.

"Yeah I'm good. That was not pleasant. Now what? We just wait?"

"Yes, you are right on schedule, two minutes and you're past the pain and dizziness. You should feel a decrease of pain in the next couple minutes. Just try to relax."

Steve does just that, he lays his head back and tries not to think about his headache that is at a solid eight by now. Right back where he was before the coma. He looks up when he feels Cath taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze.

"Guys could you act kind of normal, I feel like I'm in the zoo, just not in front of the bars," Steve actually gets a bit annoyed at his friends. Maybe it's his fear that it's not gonna work, well then he will definitely win his bet. He has to laugh at that.

"What are you laughing at," Danny is looking at him.

"Nothing."

"Steve any change yet," Dr. Hope looks at his watch and knows that Steve should feel some change by now.

"No."

They wait another five minutes but nothing is changing, they are two minutes over the ten minute time line by now. Catherine is getting up to get his friends out of the room, they are already huddled by the door, completely quiet, everyone devastated in their own way. Dr. Hope is stepping up to Steve, who still lies with his eyes closed.

"Steve I am so sorry, I was so sure that it will work."

Steve suddenly looks at him with such gratitude in his eyes, grabs his hands and whispers a heartfelt "Thank you" in a voice Dr. Hope never heard before.

"Thank you," Steve squeezes his hand and puts everything he got into those two words. He really can't believe it, but the headache is gone. From one second to the next just gone, only a residue of it left behind, that reminds him that there ever was any pain. He feels so strangely liberated that he is actually kind of speechless.

"You are more than welcome Steve," Dr. Hope speaks up and it is now that his friends become aware of what just happened.

Cath is the first to be back at his side, "Steve? You okay?"

"I'm great actually, no headache," he has a smile on his face that no one ever saw before.

Cath is not saying anything, she can't because she is engaged in such a kiss that the others are tempted to leave the room.

"Excuse me, but you are aware that there are other people in this room," Danny is the first to break up their kissing before she actually crawls into bed with Steve and does things he really don't want to see.

The laughter and chatter that erupts now actually gets so loud that a nurse comes in to remind them that they are still in a hospital. JoJo is the first to say her good byes but not before hugging Steve, who by now is out of the bed, for a good long while.

"I'll come by tomorrow to discuss something with you," she whispers into his ear before she leaves.

Dr. Hope is next to leave, but promised to be back on Sunday to check on him. The rest of his medication he left with the nurses' station.

"Steve don't forget to take your meds, next dose is at three pm. Call me please and tell me if you got a pain attack. I'll come by to see you tomorrow. Rest, don't overdo it today," with that he is gone.

The rest of the team is settling down when Steve slips out to the bathroom, mostly for a minute alone time. He leans against the door and just listens to his body, trying to figure out how he feels. There is a light throbbing in his leg, his arm doesn't hurt, his ribs are a bit sore but what is really overwhelming is his head, there is just no pain there. He is still a bit fuzzy on the details of what happened and he had trouble following the conversation when everyone was talking at once, but the pain is gone. He knows that his head is not back to normal, that he still should take it slow and that he needs to rest, but it's such an incredible feeling to be pain free that he can't fight the tears of joy that are rolling down his cheeks. Oddly enough he doesn't want to share that with anyone, not even with Cath.

"Steve you okay in there," speaking of the devil, he has to smile at that.

"Fine," that voice does not sound like him at all.

He hobbles over to the sink to splash some water in his face, getting rid of the evidence of his tears. He turns when he hears the door being closed again after Cath slipped in and smiles at Catherine, who obviously knows exactly what's going on. She just hugs him wordlessly and they are staying like that for almost a minute when Steve starts to sway a little.

"Come on you need to lie back down," Cath leans in for a sweet kiss, "I'm so happy for you."

"I love you Cath, thank you for being here, I don't want to do this without you anymore," Steve came to the conclusion last night that he not only needs Cath in his life, but that he really wants her in it.

"Love you too."

They make it out of the bathroom to the smirking glances of his team. Steve settles back in bed, grateful to get his leg elevated on some pillows again. He is sitting up in bed and is ready to finally face his friends again. For the first time since he woke up a little over two days ago he thinks about what happened and that he really hasn't a clue about what happened after he was knocked out.

"So tell me; did you get the bad guys?"

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yeah well with all the drama of the last two days with Steve waking up in a new hospital and all the stress with his friends and the hated Dr. Neill, one might forget about the bad guys. Be honest how many of you thought about them in the last few chapters? <strong>_

_**So let's talk about them, here again a little peek into the next one:**_

**Chapter 42 – Get the details**

"You sure you up to this? Dr. Hope said you should rest," Danny is as always worried that his friend does not know his limits.

"Danny I am resting. See, me lying in bed? It's called resting. To satisfy your next question, no I'm not 'fine', my head doesn't hurt anymore, but it's still a bit messed up. I still have some trouble following a longer conversation, so let's take it slow, okay," Steve was never this honest and open with his team before, but he figured they deserve nothing less. But it seems that this new Steve kind of throws them a little, which makes him smile.

"Oh okay, sure, slow, that we can do," Danny smiles back and is grateful for such honesty.

"Did you find Jefferson? I know I knocked him out," that actually gets a snort from Cath, "what?"


	43. Chapter 42 Get the details

**Chapter 42 - Get the details**

"You sure you up to this? Dr. Hope said you should rest," Danny is as always worried that his friend does not know his limits.

"Danny I am resting. See, me lying in bed? It's called resting. To satisfy your next question, no I'm not 'fine', my head doesn't hurt anymore, but it's still a bit messed up. I still have some trouble following a longer conversation, so let's take it slow, okay," Steve was never this honest and open with his team before, but he figured they deserve nothing less. But it seems that this new Steve kind of throws them a little, which makes him smile.

"Oh okay, sure, slow, that we can do," Danny smiles back and is grateful for such honesty.

"Did you find Jefferson? I know I knocked him out," that actually gets a snort from Cath, "what?"

"Knocked him out? You used him as a punching bag, I had to get you away from him, he was a bloody mess, I'm sure he did not get up on his own."

"Yeah well he deserved it, he hit you," he can still see the cut on her temple, "Not to mention that he kicked me, twice."

"NO, we actually didn't find anyone on the grounds. No one who was not dead that is. We found dead guys, four actually," Danny tells him before they can get any deeper in their 'argument'.

"We got a judge to freeze any known accounts of Vitali, but we're pretty sure he has enough money to leave the islands," Kono is providing that information.

"He's not going to leave, he will not give up. He went to incredible lengths to get to me. He will not just pack and leave," Steve is sure that they did not see the last of Vitali.

"And we will be ready for him. We will not leave you alone until we get him, or at least until you're back on your two feet. We already have a protection detail set up at your house. Your NI buddies will do that, so no worries there."

"Okay. Did you find out who his contact was at the hospital?"

"Yes and you won't believe it. None of the usual suspects. That Vitali-guy really is brilliant. Chin actually came up with the idea and the evidence," Danny looks over at Chin.

"Well I figured it needs to be someone who has access to every detail of your care. He knew things that happened at different times of the day, different shifts were there. That ruled almost everyone out. Then it came to me. Queens just got a completely new medical file system. Did you notice that they use no paper files, that they are only using I-Pads? Those I-Pads are connected to the main server, every detail is on that server in seconds after the fact. Since they are in the trial stage of that system, every little detail is put into the system right away, they are almost religiously about that. Those files are highly protected, every patient has his or her own code. But if you know that code, you get access to every detail of your care. They had the IT-Specialist in their pocket and he was feeding them every information they wanted, practically in real time. And he was the one who made the calls to Danny coming from the Command Center and to that NCIS guy from their HQ. He really is a computer genius. Of course now it's not of much use to him, since he's behind bars, probably for the rest of his life. Aiding in a kidnapping, killing of a cop and shooting Philip, not to mention all the other smaller crimes he committed. He already confessed to everything and hopes to get away with ten to twenty years."

"Good job Chin," Steve is not sure if he got everything he was just told, he doesn't quite understand how he was able to make the phone calls come from the Command Center, but if Chin says he did, than he has no doubt that that was what happened, "So I take it that you have no idea where Vitali is?"

"No nothing concrete, we are still following up on some leads, we're trying to follow the money so to speak. But nothing much is coming up. NCIS took over the investigation and they are not really talking. NI is also not famous for sharing information, so there is really not much to go on," everyone can still hear the anger in Danny's voice.

"I'm sure they are pretty embarrassed about the whole operation that Vitali had going. Was David of any help?"

"No not really, he gave us the reports of their investigations, but that didn't help much, we're hoping that you'll be able to tell us a few things about Vitali," Danny is looking expectantly at Steve, "You know what his connections are and such."

"I'm sorry but I can't do that, the information concerning his involvement in former illegal activities is classified. I can't tell you anything about it."

"You're kidding us right? You will play the classified-card? Steve that guy is responsible for kidnapping you, for killing a cop, for shooting Philip, hell for hurting Catherine, and you don't want to talk about him? That is not acceptable, 'I' will not accept that, so you better start talking now," Danny can't keep his voice down any longer.

Steve is looking at his friend and can understand his frustration, but that doesn't change the fact that he is under oath not to talk about a classified operation, "You think yelling at me will make me reveal classified information Danny? I'm sorry I can't talk about the information you want me to give you. I can't tell you anything about the arms dealer we busted or his connection to Vitali, if there even was one. I'm sorry."

"Yeah well, fine you keep it to yourself. But you know what, that information might help catch the guy who killed a twenty-eight year old police officer who was trying to protect you. But hey what's one more dead guy, with the body count already that high, doesn't really matter, does it? You know, you and your Navy-buddies might not care much about that dead officer, but I do. I want that SOB who killed him, who kidnapped my best friend, I want him and you have information about him, so I want that too. You have to decide what side you're on Steven," Danny knew that he doesn't make much sense, but he is so very angry and frustrated that he is taking it out on the easy target. He knows how very unfair that is, but at the moment he can't change it.

"What side Danny? Actually I thought I was the victim here," Steve's response is very soft spoken, "I didn't choose to be taken from home and get beaten up, I didn't choose to be in a helicopter crash and wander through the jungle, it was certainly not my choice to wake up with broken bones and a messed up head. And I do care that someone got shot because he was trying to protect me. It makes me sick that someone got hurt just because they were near me. It is those moments that I hate myself for all the pain that people suffer because they are close to me. But I didn't DO those things, I only did my job. I'm not finished Danny, I did a lot of stuff during my time on active duty, most of which I will never talk about, but I always care and I can guarantee you that my 'Navy buddies' do care and will do their best to get the bastards who killed that cop. And I will no longer listen to you or anyone else telling me that I'm responsible for any of this, because I am not," that speech took every last energy out of Steve, he lies his head back and hopes to instantly fall asleep, of course that is not happening.

"Steve I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that. It was just such a really bad week and I was hoping that you would be able to shed some light on everything."

"Danny I know how frustrated you are and that you just need to vent some, but please don't use me as a punching bag because frankly I can't take it. Listen I'm really tired and a bit dizzy, can you come back later? I'll try to get all the non-classified information on the operation for you, okay?"

"Yeah sure, around four pm okay?"

"Yeah that's fine, see you then."

Only Catherine stays back when the team is leaving. She is not sure what just happened how the conversation went south so fast.

"Steve you okay?"

"What? Yeah I'm fine. Oh you mean about Danny? Don't worry he didn't mean anything by it, he is just frustrated and he sometimes speaks before he thinks. He just needed a little reminder that I'm not the right target for his venting. He'll be cooled off when he comes back later. We're fine, don't worry."

"He does have a temper, doesn't he?"

Steve has to smile about that a little, "Well he is very passionate about the people he cares about. I know it is really hard for him to see me getting hurt like this. He feels responsible that he couldn't protect us. And he feels responsible for the dead cop. That's very hard on him, all of this. He feels like he failed his partner, he thinks that he should have my back at all times, it's very difficult for him to understand that sometimes it's just not possible to protect your partner."

"He is a good guy."

"Yes he is. And the best partner and friend I ever had."

H50 – H50 – H50

"Danny what the hell was that in there? Going off on Steve like that, none of this is his fault," Kono is cornering Danny as soon as they left the hospital and where out of earshot of any snooping doctors.

"I know, I'm sorry," he of course knows that they are right, he shouldn't have talked to Steve like that. But he is so worried about him and so desperate to catch those people who hurt his friend, that he is not thinking too clearly at the moment. "I just want to get them, I just want Steve to be safe."

"Danny we will make sure that he is safe, nothing is going to happen to him. And we will get Vitali, he is going to make a mistake and then we will get him," Chin can understand his friend's frustration but letting it out on Steve is not the way. "I'm going to talk to Scott again, he promised me to give us all the information he gathered. But even he is a bit frustrated, he is running into 'classified' as much as we are."

"Why do they do that? Why is Steve doing that, what harm would be done if we knew the connections Vitali had with some arms dealer? I don't get it, why won't they help us?"

"Danny, Steve is under orders, he can't tell us anything, doesn't even matter what he thinks about it. He will not talk, but I'm sure he will give us all the information he can get us. But frankly I don't think we will get Vitali the usual way, we have to wait until he makes his next move."

"You want to use Steve as bait?"

"No Danny that is not what I mean at all. Vitali is after Steve, no matter what we do. Steve is right he will go after him. I'm just saying that we need to be prepared for that, it doesn't make much sense to find him, let him find us."

"I don't follow, cuz, what do you mean?"

"Simple Kono, we let the other agencies go after Vitali while we prepare for him to come out and concentrate on keeping Steve safe until he does. Steve will not be able to defend himself for a while, we have to make sure that he will have the time to heal and be safe while doing that. One of us should stay with them at all times."

"He is not going to like that, he will not go for it. He agreed on the security detail, but he will not allow anyone in the house, not even one of us," Danny is sure that they will not be able to convince him to let one of them stay at the house.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading. Drop me a line if you like.<strong>_

_**And as always a little sneak peek into the next one. Just three more to go.**_

**Chapter 43 – Setting things straight**

Captain Alex Neill is waiting in the outer office of his General with great apprehension. He doesn't know why he is summoned by his CO, but he has a bad feeling that it has something to do with Commander McGarrett. He took a lot of heat from his friends, but his superiors didn't say much about his choice of treatment of the seriously injured commander.

He is sure that he did the best for him and is very happy with the result. His patient is almost pain free and will, barring any unforeseen complications, be released in two days. Something everyone should thank him for.


	44. Chapter 43 Setting things straight

_**Thank you all so much for all your comments, alerts and all your private messages. When I started this story I planned to wrap everything up in about ten chapters and hopefully a handful of people might like it. I even hoped to get one or two reviews. **_

_**I was never so surprised in my life. This story in now 45 chapters long, the sequel is well in the works and we might reach 500 reviews. You have NO idea what this is doing to me. A thank you is not enough. But it's all I can do. Thank you!**_

_**But now let's go on with the story. Hope you will enjoy it.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 43 - Setting things straight<strong>

Captain Alex Neill is waiting in the outer office of his General with great apprehension. He doesn't know why he is summoned by his CO, but he has a bad feeling that it has something to do with Commander McGarrett. He took a lot of heat from his friends, but his superiors didn't say much about his choice of treatment of the seriously injured commander.

He is sure that he did the best for him and is very happy with the result. His patient is almost pain free and will, barring any unforeseen complications, be released in two days. Something everyone should thank him for. When McGarrett arrived here a week ago he was in bad shape. The artificial coma was the only thing that made sure that he would not die from his injuries. He is sure that his friends have no idea how close the Commander came to dying. The pain attacks he suffered every few minutes put his body into extreme stress, it was only a matter of time when he would have suffered severe heart complications or stroked out. Irreparable heart and brain damage were not just a rhetorical possibility.

After a short while he is called into his CO's office and is very surprised to see Dr. Jordan sitting in front of the Generals desk. He stands at attention but is offered a chair right away.

"Thank you Sir."

"Captain Jordan brought a very disturbing matter to my attention. Something I was not aware of. Captain if you please," General Post is looking at Dr. Jordan.

"Captain Neill you lied to me. You told me that you informed Commander McGarrett that he is not allowed to have visitors and how his treatment would go as long as he is in your care. You did no such thing."

"Ma'am I told him that we wouldn't allow him any visitors right after he woke up."

"Right, you did. Commander McGarrett was just waking up after he was in a coma for a week. Do you really believe that he was able to comprehend what he was told? If so, you are even more incompetent than I already thought you are. You harmed my patient with your behavior. Keeping his friends away from him was bad enough but keeping him in the dark about the reason behind that is against everything that would make for good care of a patient. You caused a patient in your care, one you were responsible for, great emotional distress. Distress I'm sure was a huge factor in him being in such pain again."

"He never asked why no one was coming to see him and Lieutenant Rollins was allowed in," Captain Neill knows that he was not to speak up yet but he just couldn't stay quiet when he felt being treated so wrongly.

"Commander McGarrett was sedated the first twenty four hours and not clear about what was happening around him, which only added to his confusion and distress. It is your job to make sure that your patient is informed about his treatment. He was not able to come up with the questions that would have cleared a lot up for him. It was your job to see that. Commander McGarrett suffered great trauma, he was in a plane crash for crying out loud, he was kidnapped twice. You only considered his physical injuries and you did a good job with that, I know how severely injured he was. But you almost did undo all that work with your poor treatment of his human needs. I trusted you when you told me that you informed him, if I would have known I would have come to see him way sooner."

The General is now chiming in, "Captain Neill I'm very concerned that you obviously were not open and honest with you colleague. You did not inform Dr. Jordan when she called you that you told Lieutenant Rollins that she was not allowed to touch and therefore comfort the Commander in any way. Dr. Jordan would never have allowed such treatment, I would never have allowed that kind of treatment. What the hell were you thinking," the General got very loud at the end and Neill is not sure if he is supposed to speak up or not. He is just grateful that he is sitting in a chair and not still standing at attention to get this dressing down. It seems like they don't want to make an official reprimand out of it.

"Captain Neill I'm taking Commander McGarrett out of your care. Dr. Zane will take over from now on, Captain Jordan already talked to her. You will attend a seminar with weekly sessions at Dr. Jordan's office for the next three month. You are a good doctor but you have a lot to learn in regard of the human side of the care of a patient. You will run all your treatments of your patients by me or Dr. Zane from now on. You will not decide on treatments on your own until I find you fit to do that. Is that understood Captain?"

"Yes Sir."

"Dismissed."

Dr. Jordan is looking after the young doctor who has a great career in front of him, if he just learns how to be a human being and treat patients as people and not case numbers. She will try her best to make him see a better way of taking care of patients.

"Thank you General."

"No thank you for not making an official complaint about him, I think he has great potential and it would be a shame if that would get destroyed by his own stupidity. He does have his patient's best interest in mind, he just needs to learn that there is more to a broken leg than just to cast it."

"Trust me he will be a changed Doctor after his three months," JoJo has to smile at that.

"I'm sure he will be," General Post has no doubt that the Psychiatrist will make a good Doctor out of his youngest physician.

H50 – H50 – H50

Vitali is looking over to his daughter who is coming in from the little strip of private beach that stretches behind the house.

"Dad, when are we going after McGarrett again, it's over a week now."

"You have to be patient, he is still in the Army hospital we have no contacts there, we can't get him out of that. We have to wait until he is home again. At least a few more weeks, at some point they will get sloppy with his protection than we will attack."

"But Dad now he can't defend himself, he has a broken arm and leg, he is an easy target."

"No he is not, because he can't protect himself his friends will be extremely careful to make sure that he is safe. We need to wait until he is better, then they will start to go easy on the protection detail. Besides I told you it will be more fun when he is not under such heavy drugs, when he can feel your torture and understand what is happening. Don't worry you will get your revenge soon enough. Now go check on Jefferson, McGarrett did quite a number on him, see if he is doing better."

"Yes Dad. He is not happy about his badly broken nose," Stephanie has to snicker a bit about that, she never liked Jefferson much.

"Yeah well he gets over it, when he gets his first hit into McGarrett."

"Will we be safe here, won't they check all the resorts?"

"Don't worry about that. Our papers will hold against any checking, they were expensive enough, 'Danielle'."

"Okay I will check on Jefferson now. Dad did you get the drugs yet."

"No not yet. I will get it, don't worry you will be able to use it on him," sometimes Vitali worries about the obsession of his daughter with McGarrett.

After she leaves he makes his daily phone call to his friend in Japan to talk about the next delivery of weapons. A nice profit and it keeps him occupied. And of course it is fun to run that operation right under the nose of Five-0.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve fell asleep shortly after his team left, which he is not very happy about. But his body took that decision out of his hands. He wakes up two hours later to an empty room, which is actually pretty convenient, since he needs to make a phone call. He knows that Admiral Davies will not be at the base but at home, so he calls him there. He answers just as Catherine is back with a tray of coffee and some sandwiches. She hesitates to enter but he motions her to come in.

"Admiral Sir I'm sorry to disturb you at home. . .I'm fine thank you. I will be released in two days. . .no Sir I'm doing OK. . .Yes Sir we will, you won't hear any complains about us," he is grinning at Catherine now, who is actually a little blushing when she realizes the implication of that statement. "Sir you told me if I ever needed a favor I should come to you. . .well I need your help, but I don't know if you can do what I'm going to ask you. . .if you can't Sir I understand." Cath is very curiously looking at him, Steve never cashed in a favor before, and she wonders what he might want from the Admiral.

"Sir can you un-classify the Yuri Dablowsky file. . .I know Sir. . .yes Sir I think it might help find him. . .no Sir only my team will read it. . .no Sir we will not use any information from that file to get a warrant. . .yes Sir you have my word. . .yes Sir I vouch for my people. . .thank you Admiral. . .yes Sir I will tell her. . .I'll call you as soon as I'm out of here. . .thank you Sir I will."

"He is giving you the file," Cath can't believe that he really got the Admiral to give him highly classified documents for his team to take a look at.

"Yes he will. Cath it's ridiculous that the file is classified in the first place, there is nothing in it that would endanger 'National Security' or anything else. It's just a bunch of information about former contacts of Yuri and therefore Vitali. I will not give out the file of the OP when we took them down, that stays classified." Steve lies back and wonders if the nausea and dizziness he is experiencing for a few minutes now is a byproduct of his medication or simply a sign that he is hungry.

"Hey you feeling okay?"

"No, not really, I'm a little dizzy and sick; I feel really warm," Cath is now checking his forehead and can feel that he is way too warm to the touch.

"Did they tell you how your infection is going? That sometimes causes fever. Maybe you're reacting to the antibiotics and they need to change them if they make you feel sick. Try to eat some of the sandwiches I'm going to find your Doctor," with that she leaves in search of Dr. Neill.

Steve actually starts to feel a little better after he ate the first sandwich so he also eats the second and even drinks the orange juice and half a bottle of water. That takes care of the nausea and dizziness but he still feels extremely warm. A short while later Cath is back with a nurse in tow. His luck will have it that Sergeant Square is on duty again.

"Commander I'm sorry you're not feeling well. I'm just going to take your temperature," she smiles at him and shows him the ear-thermometer which she gently puts into his left ear only to take it out three seconds later, "Well that is not too bad, just 101, still a low grade fever. I will inform your doctor I'm sure he can do something about it. Commander can you make it to the bathroom and give us a little sample so we can check your infection?"

"Sample?"

She smiles again at him and he must admit that she actually has a very nice smile and she is really kind, nothing like he remembers her to be, "Yes, I'm afraid you have to pee into the hated bottle again. Sorry. If you can make it to the bathroom alone then I will come back in a few minutes. You okay to do that on your own?"

"Yeah fine, thanks," he actually manages to smile back at her, something he would not have thought possible just last night.

"Who was that and what did she do with the Sergeant," Catherine says after Sergeant Square left.

"I think JoJo had a little talk with her," Steve voices his suspicion.

"Well if so then that must have been one hell of a talk. Can you get up? Do you even need to go," Cath always wondered why doctors and nurses think that one can pee when they want one to.

"Yeah actually I do," Steve is already out of bed and takes the offered arm but is pretty steady so Cath only brings him to the door and leaves him to do his business on his own. He makes it back to bed easily and is pleasantly surprised how little his leg hurts. It's only a very mild throbbing when he puts weight on it. His arm doesn't hurt at all, it's only a strange feeling to have the arm so immobilized. Only his ribs are bothering him a little but he figured that he simply lay too much on his right side. He is just back in bed when his nurse is back.

"Dr. Neill is not available right now so Dr. Zane will check on you in a few minutes," Square informs them.

"Thank you," Cath watches her getting the requested 'sample' and leaving them alone again.

It takes only a few minutes for Colonel Zane to appear, the tall dark haired forty eight year old woman who is one of Captain Neill's superiors.

"Commander I'm Patricia Zane, the nurse told me that you're not feeling well. I'm going to take a look at you in a moment. Lieutenant will you excuse us for a few minutes please?"

"Yes ma'am of course, I wait outside," Catherine wanted to stay but of course she can't since that would be against the rules, so she leaves with a wink to Steve.

"Commander can you sit up for me please, I like to listen to your lungs first," she waits for Steve to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Yes ma'am."

She is very efficient with her examination of Steve, she listens to his lung for a while and checks his heart, it takes a few minutes before he can lie back down.

"Commander your lung is still a little congested, did you feel the need to cough the few last days?"

"Yeah, but I thought it was from my throat, that still hurts a little."

"No it's mostly from the residue of your cold, I'm going to switch you to some other antibiotics that should take care of your infection and your lungs. I don't want you to develop pneumonia, so we're going to take care of that right away," she makes some notes into her charts before she turns back to Steve. "Can you pull up your shirt please," he does that and she very carefully checks his ribs. "That looks pretty good, are you in pain from them?"

"Not really, hurts only a little when I move wrong or take too deep a breath."

"You need to do some deep breathing exercises for your lungs, I will send a RCP in who will show you how to do that."

"RCP?"

"Respiratory Care Practitioner, I always like to involve one after someone was on a ventilator and with your cold and broken ribs it's even more important. Don't worry just some simple breathing exercises, you will be fine," she smiles down at him and again makes some notes on her chart. He decides that he likes her much more than Dr. Neill, who he still needs to have some serious words with.

"I'm going to pull your waistband down a bit to check your belly," she is extremely gentle when she is pulling down his pants a little to expose his badly bruised belly. After two weeks it still looks really awful even though it only hurts when pressed on, which she is doing now. "Do you have any problems relieving yourself or any pain while doing so," she is now looking at him and can see that he is blushing, "Commander don't be embarrassed, it's okay, our conversation will not leave this room," she is now smiling at him, she knows that it is never easy for a man to talk about this especially with a woman, but he is not her first patient so she knows how to handle that. "Are you in pain in the mornings," she very softly asks him.

"I thought it would be better after two weeks, but it's not," he admits while blushing even some more.

"You received quite a bit of trauma, we give it a little bit more time, if you're still in pain on Monday then I like an urologist to take a look at you. But for now I think we should wait before we get the big guns out," she puts his pants back in order and this time she doesn't write anything in her chart.

"For what you went through you are doing remarkably well. I checked your latest MRI from three days ago and your skull fracture is healing very nicely. The hairline break is almost not visible anymore. I like to take another MRI before you get released on Monday."

"I get released on Monday? Dr. Neill was not really sure about it. He said maybe."

"I think there is no indication that you should stay here any longer. Of course provided that the fever will be down today and is not coming back, normally you should be fever free for three days, but I'm sure that the fever was caused by the medication and not by the infection. Your infection is pretty mild, it would not cause a fever. I'm sure it's a reaction to the antibiotics, that's the other reason why we're going to change it. Do you have any questions for me? Did you understand everything I told you?"

Steve is looking at her and really starts to like her even more, she is the first doctor who is actually asking him if he understood everything since he is at Tripler.

"Can you tell me again what's wrong with my lungs?"

"Sure. The first week after your crash you kept your breathing really low because of the pain in your ribs and the cold caused some congestion. The week on the ventilator was actually really good for you, but now you start again with the not so deep breathing because it still hurts. I know you don't do it consciously, your body does that automatically. That is why you need to do the exercises so that your lungs get 'ventilated'. Don't worry nothing is wrong with your lung, it's just a precaution. Any other questions?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Okay you're almost due for your next injection. A nurse will bring you the syringe in a few minutes. She will also give you a shot with the antibiotics. I will come by tomorrow at around ten am to see how you're doing. See you then Commander."

"Thank you ma'am."

Cath comes back in as soon as the Colonel leaves, "That took quite some time, everything ok?"

"Yeah she just took a look at everything. Said I need to do some breathing exercises, still something left from the cold. But she thinks that the fever is from the antibiotics and said I can leave on Monday. Well most likely."

"That's great. You don't look too happy about that, what's the matter?"

"No it's not that. She asked me if I'm in pain in the morning."

"What," Cath looks at him not understanding what he means or what the question was about.

"You remember my problem in the shower? I still have that problem," even after so many years of knowing each other and having sex together countless times, he is still slightly blushing; which she finds rather endearing.

"Oh! What did she say?"

"She wants me to see an urologist. Cath can I deny medical treatment while in a military hospital?"

"What?"

"Can I say no if I don't want to be treated? I mean I'm still in the Navy and this is a military hospital, can I deny treatment? As Military personnel we don't have the constitutional right to refuse standard medical treatment, unlike civilians, if that treatment would help return said personnel back to active duty. But is there a regulation that I can refuse to be treated by a doctor? Can you please find that out?"

"Steve why don't you want them to treat you, if you're in pain you need to see a doctor for that."

"I know. And I will, but not here. Can you please find out if I can say no to that?"

"Okay if you want me to I'll find out."

"Thank you. Can you do that now?"

"What right now? I don't have my notebook with me. . .all right I use the one at the nurse's station. Happy now?"

"Yes thank you."

Cath is leaving in search of a computer so she can access the Army regulations. It takes her only a few minutes to be back.

"Okay here it goes. Army Regulations 40-3, Chapter 2.3 b: A patient with decision-making capacity," she grins at him "has the legal and moral right to participate in medical care decisions, including the right to refuse medical treatment at any time even if it is lifesaving."

"So I can say no to whatever they want to do?"

"Yeah so it says here in the regulation, I mean I'm no lawyer, but that's how I understand it."

"Good. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, you will see a doctor Steve. Promise me."

"I promise, but I can't do that here."

"Okay, but I'm holding you to your promise."

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thank you so much for reading. Hope you will enjoy the next few chapters, we're slowly coming to an end with this. But don't worry the sequel will be posted shortly.<strong>_

_**Sneak Peek into the second last one:**_

**Chapter 44 – Surprising turns**

When Danny and Catherine are exiting the elevator on Steve's floor the next morning they can see a commotion in front of Steve's room and can hear JoJo screaming at Dr. Neill. They can only understand 'court martial', 'restrained' and 'combative'. When they reached them Captain Neill is dismissed and throws a look at them that speaks clearly of his anger.

"JoJo what happened," Cath is more than worried.

"Let's talk inside."


	45. Chapter 44 Surprising turns

_**Thank you all so much for reading. This is the second last chapter hope you will enjoy it.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 44 – Surprising turns<strong>

A few minutes before three p.m. a nurse comes in with two syringes for Steve. One is the wrapped one with the medication for his head and the other obviously his shot with antibiotics. She administers that really quick and completely painless into the vein in his right arm.

"This should take care of your infection and prevent any bacterial infection of your lungs. I'm going to check on you in half an hour again, please call if you start to feel unwell or show any other sign that seems not right."

She packs up her things and leaves them alone again.

"Steve you want me to leave so you can take your injection?"

"What? Why? Do you want to leave," Steve looks rather surprised at her; he has no idea why he should want her to leave while he injects his medication.

"No I don't, I just thought you might be more comfortable if you're alone."

"Why would I be uncomfortable with you here?"

"I don't know, I just thought you wouldn't want to do it in front of people."

Steve has to laugh a little at that, "Cath you are not 'people', I wouldn't inject in front of strangers, of course not, but my friends? Do you want me to lock myself up every time I need an injection? I'm sorry but I'm not going to do that, I will not go to the restroom at HQ every time I need to take this, I will do that in my office, well at least if no one is there, and I will not retreat to the bathroom at home. This is just like taking a pill, I wouldn't hide that, why should I hide this?"

In the meantime he has the wipe out and cleaned a patch of skin and is ready to inject, "Last chance to leave," he tells her with a smile.

"Can I do it? I need to learn it anyway, why not start right now?"

"Yeah sure, here take it. You need to push it in harder than you might think, please don't stop midway, the needle needs to go all the way in. And please don't move it when it's in, it hurts when the needle hits the muscle, so please don't move it. Just push it in; push the plunger down and pull it out all in one smooth motion," he looks at her full of trust and hands her the needle which she is reluctant to take.

"Steve I don't know if I can do that, I don't want to hurt you. This sounds more complicated than it looks," she looks a bit worried at him, she never injected something in anybody's muscle or anything else for that matter. She was suddenly a bit unsure of herself.

"Cath you'll do fine, you need to practice this, just in case you know."

"Okay. Here we go," she is holding the needle just over the place where he cleaned the skin, takes one last look and pushes the needle in and is actually surprised how much force she really needs to get it in. But she thinks she is doing pretty well until she turns the needle a bit sideways when she is changing her grip on the syringe to push the plunger down. That movement causes Steve to groan by the sudden pain.

"I'm okay, you're doing good, keep going, push down slowly and pull it out."

Cath empties the syringe and pulls the needle out quickly, while Steve grabs at his back where the burning pain is localized this time. But again after just a minute any pain is gone and the dizziness is really mild. After just two minutes everything is over and he feels fine again.

"Well that was not too bad," Steve looks at Catherine who looks not happy at all.

"Speak for yourself, I don't wanna do this. I hurt you, I'm sorry."

"Hey it's okay, that was your first time, you did good. Really. When I injected I also moved the needle that hurt too, don't worry you only have to do it a couple more times. I just like you to know how to do it if I can't inject for whatever reason."

"Okay. In about an hour the team will be back, you feel up for them? We don't have to do this now if you don't feel well," she looks at Steve who looks despite his two hour nap tired and worn out.

"No I feel okay. Besides I want to know what happened and what they found out."

"Yeah well why don't you take another nap it's till time until they're here."

"I'm doing nothing but sleeping, I'm really sick of it, I want to go home and do something other than falling asleep at any given moment," Steve is really not happy with his body's need for sleep. He normally doesn't need much sleep but at the moment he feels like he is doing nothing else. Every little activity tires him out. Dr. Neill told him that it's normal after being so heavily sedated for so long and that he should not fight it. But it still frustrates him to no end.

"But Steve that is exactly what you should do. You need to rest, I know you feel a lot better and I'm worried that when you're out of the doctors' reach in a few days that you will overdo it. But even though your head doesn't hurt anymore, that does not mean that your head is fine. Dr. Hope talked to me and voiced his concern, I'm sure he will talk to you tomorrow."

"I know I'm not that much better yet. I have a lot of trouble concentrating, when you all talk at once I can't really follow. I keep forgetting names and I'm still really foggy on what happened. I can't remember what happened after the crash, there are only bits and pieces. I keep forgetting what you all told me about it. I feel really stupid that I have to ask about it again and again. I can't call up information that would normally be right there. My reaction time is really slow and sometimes I have to struggle to come up with the right word. That's why I talk a lot slower than normal."

"You don't talk that much slower. An outsider wouldn't even recognize that something is not right. And it's perfectly normal that you keep forgetting what we tell you, Dr. Hope told you that your brain needs a few weeks until that will get better. Do you remember when you had your accident six years ago that you didn't know anything about what happened?"

"Yeah I still can't remember anything about the actual jump. Maybe that's not so bad, I don't think I want to go through that again. I only know what they told me about it. How we jumped and the chute didn't open and that I crashed into the water and almost drowned."

"Did you ever watch the video?"

"Yeah I did but the guy who was crashing into the water. . .I have no recollection of that, so it was really just a video of some guy falling from the sky and crashing into the ocean. It didn't trigger any memory. Did you see it?"

"No. And I don't want to. That was such a horrible time. Your dad was so worried, he was really scared to lose you. We didn't know for a week if you would make it, Steve you were so badly hurt."

"Cath look at me, I'm fine now. I came out of it okay, don't think about the bad times. Something good came out of it. I spent four months in Hawaii before I was fit for duty again. Best four months of my life, well not the physical therapy that was the worst, but the rest. I stayed with my dad and you were there for a few weeks before you were transferred out again. So yeah something really good came out of it."

"So what you're saying is we will make something good out of this too?"

"Yeah we will. We can't change what happened might as well make the best out of it. You're on leave for another four weeks, still wondering how you managed to get six weeks off, and after that you'll be stationed at Pearl. Cath I know we haven't talked about it and I'm not sure what your plans are or even what our plans are. I mean I would love to have you at the house, but I completely understand if you want your own space."

"Are you asking me to bunk with you?"

"Bunk with me? Well I was more hoping to live with you and I mean there is a lot of room, we can go our separate ways when we need space, which we both do. So I thought it would be practical, we could share the house and see where it is going. We spend most of our lives on bases or alone, we need to learn to share. I mean we have both our routines and it will be a challenge to suddenly have someone in the house, but I would like to try that and I couldn't think of anyone I would ever wanted to do that with, I mean you know."

Catherine cannot think of anything he ever said to her that was sweeter than this, he is willing to share his life with her. Even though she knows that he is scared of letting someone into his life like that. She is aware that he just gave her an out if that was not something she was ready to do. She has no idea if she or even he is ready for that step, but she also knows that he is right, they could get out of each other's way the house is big enough for that. So why not give it a try?

"I think we could do that. Share the house I mean, that beats a room at the base by far," she is now grinning at him, "Since I'm not under your command there will be no problem of us being together while you outrank me. We shouldn't get in trouble for living together, but we still should check with JAG first. I mean technically I do report to you in a way, but as your status as head of Five-0. You think that will be a problem?"

"I don't think so, but frankly I haven't even thought that far. But if there would be a problem I'm sure we will come up with something," Steve is suddenly closing his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Steve, what's wrong, you okay?"

"Head hurts, but it's not too bad and it's already fading. If that is all I get every eight hours I'm happy," but he is lying very still with eyes closed and Cath has the suspicion that the pain is pretty bad.

"Steve tell me the truth how bad is it from one to ten?"

"Maybe a three, it just got me completely by surprise, really Cath it's okay," he opens his eyes again and is smiling at her. "Really I'm fine. That was just a really short burst of a low level of pain. It just blindsided me, that's all. I'm good, it's already gone, lasted only a few seconds."

Before the discussion can go any further the team is back; with coffee and cake for everyone.

"Steve what do you like, we have Malasadas, Coco-Puffs and different cheese cakes?"

"Just coffee for me."

"Okay just coffee, tell me when you change your mind."

"Thanks Kono."

"Steve, listen, I wanted to apologize for the way I acted. I'm sorry," Danny is looking at Steve with a very apologetic face.

"Danny it's okay, I know you didn't mean it. It's fine."

"Yeah but still I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Since when can you shut up," Steve is just grinning at his friend.

"I can 'not-talk'."

"Yeah sure. Listen I talked to the Admiral and he will un-classify the file of Yuri. We should get the file in the next hour by courier. I will give it to you, but I will not give you the file of the actual OP of the take down. I vouched for you guys, you are not to talk to anyone about the content of the file and you cannot get any warrants with the information of the file. That file is for your eyes only. Do I make myself clear about that?"

"Yes you do. We will not talk to anyone about it and we will follow your rules. Thank you Steve."

"I'm afraid you will be pretty disappointed about the file, there really is not much in it. I doubt that you will find anything useful in it. Oh and one more thing you can't make any copies of the content."

"Okay. Anything else we need to know?"

"No just don't get me court martialed Danny, I really wouldn't like that."

"Okay got it, no court martial. We will try that," Danny is not sure if he wants to know what his friend needed to do to get the file. Hopefully not another deal. That brings him to a question that is burning a hole into him since they found him after the first kidnapping, "Steve I need to ask you something. When you made your deal with the Admiral, you know for the security detail and the alarm system, did you know what it was about, the OP I mean?"

"Not really no, only that it involved my specialty, that's why they wanted me to do it," Steve is now openly grinning at his second-in-command, knowing full well that it is driving him crazy that he doesn't know what his specialty is.

"And that would be?"

"Nice try Danny."

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve's team leaves after another half hour right after a courier dropped the file off. Steve gives the file to Danny with the reminder not to show it to anyone. They promise to read it at HQ and to lock it in the safe there. Danny thinks the whole procedure is a bit much for as Steve called it uninformative information, but hey if his friend insists on it he will follow his orders.

It is around six pm that Cath can see that Steve clearly has to fight to stay awake, "Don't fight it, go to sleep. I will leave and meet with one of the team again. I think it's Kono for tonight, we will have a 'girls-night'. You just rest easy, okay?"

"You really have to leave?"

"Steve we are really stretching the rules here already, I don't want you to pay the consequences for it. Besides you can barely keep your eyes open."

"I'm not tired, can you please stay till after dinner?"

"Okay until dinner, but after that I'm leaving. Yeez you're worse than Gracie when she is sleepy."

"Thank you."

It only takes a few minutes for his dinner to arrive. Again only a very light meal of some chicken, rice and vegetables. Everything just steamed and without much taste. It's eatable but he is pushing it more around on the plate than actually eating it. He got a shake with his meal and that one is actually pretty good.

"Come on Steve eat some more of your dinner. You weren't sick for a couple days now, so that phase is probably over by now."

"Don't say that, you will only make it come back," he puts a final piece of meat in his mouth and pushes the plate away, "Will you come see me tomorrow?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll come see you. I'll be by first thing in the morning but I have to leave again to see the Admiral and I will be back later in the evening. Then I will bring you new clothes for your release on Monday."

"Okay."

"Hey what is it, you feel okay," Cath thinks that Steve acts a bit subdued and looks really exhausted.

"I'm just not feeling so great, guess I am tired and I'm still really warm," he turns on his side and struggles to keep his eyes open.

"Steve just give in to sleep, you will feel better when you wake up. I'm going to leave now but will talk to your nurse first to make sure that they will think about your injections. Have a good night and I see you in the morning. Be a good boy okay," she bends down to kiss him good night and good bye. But he is already asleep.

H50 – H50 – H50

When Danny and Catherine are exiting the elevator on Steve's floor the next morning they can see a commotion in front of Steve's room and can hear JoJo screaming at Dr. Neill. They can only understand 'court martial', 'restrained' and 'combative'. When they reached them Captain Neill is dismissed and throws a look at them that speaks clearly of his anger.

"JoJo what happened," Cath is more than worried.

"Let's talk inside."

When they enter Steve's room they thought they'd find chaos or a distraught Steve, but they only see him sleeping peacefully in his bed. Cath is going to his side and kisses him on the forehead.

"JoJo he's burning up."

"Yeah I know his fever rose shortly after two a.m. it was up to 105 and it's just getting down under 103. He was not having a good night and after his injection at six he got very sick, threw up all over the place. His fever was the highest by then and when the nurse injected him he got scared, I'm pretty sure he had a flashback. We need to wait for him to wake up to know for sure. He pushed the nurse away, he didn't do that with force or deliberately but she fell and sprained her wrist. They called a doctor because he was 'combative'. Doctor on call was Neill, he had orders not to go near him again. He disobeyed that direct order. He gave the order to restrain him," JoJo is now very angry and agitated, "He fought them as best he could with such a high fever and as sick as he was. They even put his broken arm and leg in restraints. He wouldn't calm down, of course, he fought them tooth and nails, that's when I came in - half an hour after they restrained him. I've never seen him like this: screaming and crying and fighting against the restraints. I ordered them off and when he recognized me he calmed down immediately, but he was in a lot of pain from his arm, so I sedated him. I'm waiting for Mark, we're going to transfer Steve to Queens right now. The Orthopedic Surgeon is already waiting for him, I'm worried that he hurt his arm again."

"How could they do that to him," Danny can't really believe what he is hearing. His friend was doing so much better and now this.

"I don't know Danny. In his medical file are orders that he is not to be restrained under any circumstances. I can't say yet what this did to him, what psychological trauma we're talking about. But I'm afraid that he took a huge hit and that he might not come out of this so easy."

"What will Dr. Neill face?"

"He disobeyed a direct order, he treated a patient he was not allowed near and of course there is the willful neglect of the orders in Steve's medical file. He will be lucky if he gets away without time in the brig."

"That is harsh."

"No Danny it's not, Dr. Neill is an officer, there a very strict rules for officers, if you break them you have to pay for that. And there are rules for doctors, he broke all the rules and endangered one of my patients, worse even one of my friends. I was willing to help Dr. Neill to become a better doctor, he had a great career in front of him. But this I cannot nor am I willing to let slide."

"I didn't mean it like that, you're right, if he is responsible for harming Steve I have no sympathy for him whatsoever."

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>Damn! Steve was doing so well. Let's hope that JoJo is wrong and this is not as bad for Steve as she thinks it is. <strong>_

_**Well I guess this will be the last sneak peek into the next chapter. Next time you get a peek into the new story. :-)**_

**Chapter 45 – Coming to terms**

"Steve? You can't what? Can you open your eyes for me? I know you're awake for a while now. Come on please look at me," JoJo is speaking very softly to him. She is watching him for over an hour now, waiting for him to wake up, which he did about ten minutes ago. She knows that he might think that she is angry with him, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is actually pretty angry with herself, she should have seen it yesterday; all the signs were right in front of her. But she just didn't see it, just like the last time she completely misjudged the situation with him. That almost cost him his life so many years ago.

*_**Annapolis December 1995***_


	46. Chapter 45 Coming to terms

_**Well here it is - the very last chapter. I'm kind of sad about that, I came to love this storyline. But I think it's time to move on, I mean it's getting a bit frustrating for Steve not to be able to do much. He 'demanded' to get back into the action. :-) But since he is not healed we need to skip forward a bit. But since I also like to 'see' his way back, I decided to do both. The healed Steve and the healing Steve.**_

_**That is where the sequel comes in. So you will see a new adventure of Steve and Danny and as a bonus you will see how Steve reached his goal to be back at Five-0. Oh come on this was not a spoiler; none of you thought I wouldn't get him back on his feet!**_

_**I would be really happy if you might like to check that out as well. **_

_**I hope you will enjoy this last installment of 'Search and Rescue'.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 45 – Coming to terms<strong>

First thing Steve becomes aware is the different smell. It smells actually really nice, fresh and like after a mild summer rain mixed with the air carried over from the ocean. After he thinks about it he comes to the conclusion that it smells like Hawaii and he can feel a soft breeze. Not directly on him but he just knows that a window is open in his room. And that means without a doubt that he is not at Tripler anymore. There was no window to open, they were all bolted. His bed is also very different, it's soft and warm, he feels safe in it. He wonders why there is the unmistakable beeping of a heart monitor above his head. He didn't have anything attached to him last time he was awake but now he can feel that he has an IV, electrodes all over him and a damn Foley again. _Damn! What the hell happened to him?_ Last he remembers is that he was not feeling so well when Catherine left. She promised to come back in the morning, obviously something happened in between. He just has no idea what.

Now his body makes himself known, there is a light throbbing in his leg that was not there when he went to sleep. And his arm is not just throbbing but actually hurts from the elbow down, _wait a minute 'up'_ _to his wrist_. _Why is the arm fixated in such a strange position_? His arm is still casted the same but the whole arm is somehow held in a ninety degree angle with his fingers pointing to the ceiling. Come to think of it, his leg is also not lying on some soft pillows but is also fixated and 'hangs' in some kind of contraption.

He feels kind of fuzzy and just knows that he was sedated and is still in the process of waking up. He can hear JoJo and Cath talking in the background and debates about letting them know that he is awake. He is really tired and wishes he would fall asleep again but his arm is hurting and prevents him from going back under. His lower back also hurts, which tells him that he has been lying in this position for some hours now. Ever since he broke some lumbar vertebrae, he can't lie on his back for hours on end without getting some discomfort. And the helicopter crash he was in just two weeks ago didn't really help. He tries to shift a little to ease the pressure on his back but that results only in a spike of pain through his arm that makes him groan.

This lets Cath and Dr. Jordan know that he is waking up. Before they can reach his bed he opens his eyes to show them that he really is awake.

"Hey," _oops that was not his voice,_ that sounded like he had been screaming all day and gargled with sandpaper. His try to speak makes him cough and suddenly there are some ice chips in front of him. After a few seconds he tries again, "Hi." _Well that didn't sound too bad_.

"How do you feel," JoJo is actually laying her hand on his forehead and looks with a soft smile down at him.

If he wouldn't know better he'd say she looks scared. "Confused," is the word that comes to mind first, "why am I at Queens again and why does my arm hurt like hell?"

"Dr. Hope will be here in a minute and will give you something for the pain. Steve what is the last you remember?"

"I wasn't feeling well when Cath left, but I fell asleep and. . .I don't know. Where you there at some point last night? I don't know, next I know I'm here. What happened?"

Before she can answer Dr. Hope comes in, also with a very worried face, "Steve how do you feel?"

"JoJo just asked me that, will you please tell me what happened? My arm really hurts and can you please take my leg and arm down I need to turn onto my side."

"We're going to ask your Orthopedic Surgeon about that, does your back hurt?"

"Yeah. Why do I have an IV and a fucking Foley and why am I on a heart monitor, will I please get some answers," Steve is not staying quiet any longer, since no one seems willing to answer him.

"Steve calm down, everything's okay," Cath is now trying to calm him down.

"Please just tell me what happened," he is softly asking her while pleadingly looking at her.

"Steve it's okay I'm going to tell you everything, just let me check you out first. I'm going to give you something for your pain, you should feel better in a minute," he injects something in his IV and Steve can feel the relief almost instantly. Dr. Hope takes his temperature again that is now a little under 101 and shines his penlight into Steve's eyes which is still hurting him even though two weeks passed since he received his concussion. Last he moves the fingers of his casted arm, satisfied with his findings he is addressing Steve again.

"Last night you got a dangerously high fever which was at its highest at six a. m., when Sergeant Square came to inject your medicine; we think you got scared because you couldn't understand what was happening because of the fever, you were very disoriented. We think that you thought you were being attacked, you pushed the nurse away, she fell and called the doctor. The injection made you very dizzy and really sick and you threw up, that didn't really help to calm you down."

Steve listens to what he is told but has no recollection of any of it, "Did I hurt the nurse?"

"It was an accident, she sprained her wrist, but she said it was not your fault, don't worry about it. The doctor on call was Dr. Neill, he was under orders not to treat you, but he did. He. . .ordered restraints," they are all looking at Steve to see if he remembers any of this, but he is just calmly listening to Dr. Hope. "You fought that with all you had, they even tried to fixate your casted arm and leg. You were totally out of it, you were screaming bloody murder and were trying to get loose."

They can see now that Steve is paling, obviously remembering something, "It hurt, I begged them to take them off but they didn't and then they left."

"You didn't stop screaming and when no order was coming to give you some sedatives but let you scream yourself out instead; a nurse, Sergeant Square, called Dr. Jordan."

"You came and took them off," Steve remembers now how JoJo stormed into the room and got the restraints off of him and how he clung to her and how terribly his arm was hurting, "I'm sorry I got puke all over you," he whispers to her.

"That was the least of my worries," she is very warmly smiling at him, glad that he is relatively calm about the whole incident, "I sedated you, you were in a lot of pain and very agitated, your fever was still 104 and I needed to get you out of there. I called Mark and he organized a transport back here."

"Steve I'm sorry to tell you but the healing of the bones in your arm of the last two weeks is all undone. You were trying with such force to get out of the restrains that you broke up all the bone-forming that already happened in the last two weeks. We had to reset the bone and the healing process starts completely new. That is why it hurts so much. Your leg got away a little better we didn't have to set it, but there is a little damage as well but not as bad as your arm."

"So I guess I will not be released on Monday, it's still Sunday right?"

"No and yes. You have to stay a couple of days, but not because of the arm. Your body was under extreme stress from the fever and your agitation and there was some cardiac irregularity. Your heartbeat got a bit out of rhythm, don't worry it's been perfectly fine for the last 6 hours. The Cardiologist said your heart is strong and completely healthy. It is just a precaution, don't worry about it. There is nothing wrong with your heart. If everything goes as planned you will be released Wednesday morning."

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve is dozing in his bed and watches the sun go down. This was a really shitty Sunday. He can now remember most of what happened last night, well at least as much as he was aware of while he suffered the fever. But he can very clearly remember how very scared he was when he was restrained and how much he screamed and how hard he fought against the bindings. How very much his arm hurt, how sick he was, and that he puked all over himself, and that they just left him alone. He was completely scared out of his mind and is ashamed to remember that he wet himself. He can see with complete clarity how he clung to JoJo when she freed him and that he was just a sobbing mess in her arms. How he couldn't breathe and his chest hurt and how he was just seconds from a panic attack when she sedated him.

After Dr. Hope left, JoJo was talking to him for over an hour calming him down and trying to figure out how he was feeling but he wasn't really in the mood to talk, so he didn't. Even after she left and Cath came back he didn't talk much, he barely said a few words to her. At some point during the afternoon his Orthopedic Surgeon came in and declared that he has to stay in the contraption for at least twenty four hours. As a result of that he is still lying on his back. His lower back is really hurting by now and the pain medication that is flowing thru his system is not doing that much for his back. He just needs to turn on his side to elevate the pressure on the three vertebrae that were fractured in his parachute accident all those years ago. Not being able to sleep on his back a whole night is the only problem he has with his lower back since the accident, something he can easily live with. But him turning will not happen in the next hours with his arm and leg in the fixed position.

When Cath left a few minutes ago to get some more coffee he called the nurse and asked for some sleeping pills or sedatives, she promised to get back to him shortly after talking to Dr. Hope. He just doesn't want to talk anymore, Danny wants to come by again, and he is sure that he too wants to talk about what happened. Steve can feel his own panic and anxiety lurking in the background ready to jump him the second he is not keeping his control. He knows that he can't keep it up much longer and just can't bear the thought of breaking down again in front of his friends. He just wants to sleep and hopefully wake up in the morning not being so miserable anymore. Before the nurse comes back however Cath and Danny are back. _Just Great._

"Steve how are you doing," Danny is looking down at his friend and Steve swears he can see pity in his eyes. Something he just hates. He decides not to answer since Danny always says that his face says it all. _Well take that_, Steve knows that he is unreasonable, that none of his friends is responsible for any of this, but he just wants to be alone. Needs to be alone if he wants to keep it together.

"Sorry guess that was a pretty stupid question. Steve would you like some coffee, we got your favorite," Danny seems to be very adamant to lift Steve's mood. _Yeah good luck with that my friend_.

"No." _Don't start talking, you'll lose it._

"Okay maybe something sweet?"

"No." _Don't start talking, you will lose it._

Danny looks at Catherine who is just looking back at him and only shrugs since Steve is like that all day. She warned him about it before they came in.

"Okay but it's your loss, this cake is really good."

Just looking at the rich cake makes him queasy and he is not sure that he will be able to keep the nausea at bay. It seems to show on his face, "Steve you feel all right?"

"No I feel sick, please take that away from me." _DON'T start talking damn it! Oh god I'm going to lose it, please don't let that happen not now, please._

Before they can actually take it away the door opens and a nurse comes in.

"Commander I talked to Dr. Hope about your request and he said it's okay to give you some sedatives. I'm going to give them into your IV in a minute, let me just do a quick check first."

"Thank you." _Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please hurry!_

"You're welcome. Just relax Commander I'll be done in a minute and then you can go to sleep," she is noting all his vitals in her chart, checks his output and the position of his leg and arm. It really only takes a minute and she is inserting the sedative into his IV-port, making him relax almost instantly. It looks like he is whispering something. _That was too damn close, thank you_. Danny and Catherine are watching with great concern, they can't believe that their friend actually asked to be sedated.

The nurse is busy for a moment longer but then they are alone again with a very calm Steve who seems to be on the brink of sleep. Catherine is now next to his bed and takes his hand to rouse him some, so they can at least talk to him for a minute.

"Steve are you in pain, that why you asked for the sedative?"

_Please please let go, don't make me cry in front of Danny again, please let go. Don't start talking_, "don't". _DON'T tell her!_

"Don't? Don't what Steve? What do you want to tell us? Steve?"

_NOTHING! Please don't touch me like that, please just leave, NO please don't go, please hold me, I'm_ "scared" _please don't leave me_.

"Steve nothing is going to happen to you, please don't be scared, you will never be restrained again, I promise," Catherine doesn't really know what he means with 'scared' but she thinks he is scared that he might be restrained again.

"No!" _nonononononono please no, oh god I can't breathe, oh please no_. Steve can feel how his control is slipping, the sedative obviously not strong enough to knock him out instead it weakens his control. He can suddenly hear shouting and feels how he gets hit, he can feel the pain in his gut and his back, there is the metallic taste of blood in his mouth that makes him gag. But suddenly he feels how his leg is lowered and his arm is taken out of the strange position and lowered to the bed, which shoots pain up to his shoulder. He can feel how he gets shot, that pain is almost overwhelming, next he hears Catherine "Danny I don't fucking care", _what is she not caring about?_ Before he can think any more about that, he feels himself being turned on his right side and he would have rolled further on his belly but he is suddenly stopped by a body. A warm body that is now lying almost buried under him and he is suddenly embraced in a hug. Arms are holding him securely in place and his head comes to rest on a shoulder while those arms are rubbing up and down his back. He starts to relax and the imagined pain leaves him almost immediately and a soft sob escapes him. He buries himself even deeper in that warm and soft body, not caring that his arm is in an awkward position and hurts a little. He gives in to the feeling of being safe and protected, his eyes are closing and he knows that his friends will watch over him and won't let anything happen to him. He can feel how his control is slowly slipping completely out of his hands, but it's not scary anymore, he welcomes it and he is embraced by a restful sleep. Securely lying in the arms of his 'girlfriend'. A word that is not enough to describe what she is just doing for his sanity.

Danny is looking down at Cath and Steve, again together in a too small hospital bed. He got worried when she suddenly started to get his arm out of the sling that was keeping it in the ninety degree angle and 'ordered' him to get his leg out as well. He was kind of shocked when she seconds later crawled into Steve's bed. But it was obvious even to Danny, that Steve was in dire distress and he only calmed down when he could feel his friend next to him.

"Danny please call JoJo, I think we need her here. Tell her what happened."

"What happened? Cath I have no idea what just happened," Danny knows that Steve was agitated but he really can't say to what extent, this is so not his field of expertise.

"Tell her that he had a flashback and a panic attack; that he got a sedative that was not strong enough to knock him out, but made him lose control. She needs to come."

H50 – H50 – H50

He can feel sunshine on his face, which tells him if the sun is again on this side of the hospital it must be early afternoon. Last he was awake it was almost night. _JoJo kept you under_, he has to smile at that thought. But when he thinks that she might be angry at him for not telling her that he was feeling the panic coming, the smile is gone faster than it came on. If there is one person he never wants to be angry at him or to disappoint than that's JoJo. She helped him so much in the last years, she kept him sane. _Yeah right until now_.

_I lost it. Again_. _She will probably diagnose me with ASD again_. _Acute Stress Disorder. Well it was acute, I was in stress and my thoughts are in complete disorder_. _Disorder does not mean 'that'_, he laughs at his own joke. _No one else is laughing, should I be concerned that I have a complete conversation with myself? Who do you ask? Me or yourself?_ _This is getting disturbing. Yeah well maybe you should ask JoJo, you know she is here, don't you? Yeah I know. Stop that, don't answer my questions. Yeah then maybe you shouldn't ask, just open your eyes and talk to her._ "Can't."

"Steve? You can't what? Can you open your eyes for me? I know you're awake for a while now. Come on please look at me," JoJo is speaking very softly to him. She is watching him for over an hour now, waiting for him to wake up, which he did about ten minutes ago. She knows that he might think that she is angry with him, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is actually pretty angry with herself, she should have seen it yesterday; all the signs were right in front of her. But she just didn't see it, just like the last time she completely misjudged the situation with him. That almost cost him his life so many years ago.

*_**Annapolis December 1995***_

_Commander Jordan is called to a bus accident that involved fifteen young cadets in the middle of the night. Two of which are dead and the others are injured, from life threatening injuries to just some bruises. Only one of them emerged unscathed. And that someone is now standing in front of her shivering in his soaked uniform. He has a blanket over his shoulders and is looking down to the water were the rescue teams are still trying to get the last one out of the overturned bus. She has no idea yet why the bus landed in the bay, but she does know that she needs to get Midshipman McGarrett out of here. He is soaking wet and was obviously in the freezing water for how long she has no idea. He is still shivering, that's a good sign it means the hypothermia is not too bad yet._

"_McGarrett? Come on you need to get into the warmth. We take you to the hospital."_

"_No I can't."_

"_You need to get checked out, you're freezing, come on let's get you out of the cold. There is nothing you can do here anymore."_

"_No I have to wait for him."_

"_Who do you have to wait for?"_

"_Tim. He was right next to me. I couldn't get him out, he was stuck. I tried, really I did but then I had to come up for air, but I went back. I couldn't get him out," young McGarrett is still staring at the water waiting for his friend to emerge._

"_They will get him out, come on before you freeze to death. Let's go," Commander Jordan is gently leading McGarrett away from the waterfront but he is looking back all the time, still in the hope that his friend might come back up. They only get Midshipman Timothy Roves out after over an hour, every try to resurrect him fails and he is pronounced dead two hours later._

_McGarrett is declared unhurt and after an hour of talking to him Dr. Jordan also declares him fit to leave the hospital. He does, but he is not returning to the Academy, he goes straight to the scene of the accident. No one there is interested in a bystander who seems to watch the accident clearance work. A few hours later there is almost nothing left from the scene where hopeful young people died. No one pays attention that one bystander is still standing at the edge of the waterfront just staring down to the water._

_Dr. Jordan gets the call in the early morning that Midshipman McGarrett is missing, that he never reached the Academy after he was released from the hospital. She instantly knows where he is and she is right with her assumption. He is still standing at the edge and looks down to the almost black water. He doesn't acknowledge her at all when she speaks to him. _

"_McGarrett? Steve! Steven," that gets a response, he turns, looks at her but before she can even say anything he falls to her feet and doesn't move again. He is rushed to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with severe hypothermia and shock. He spent a full week in the hospital. She took a long time to forgive herself that she talked to McGarrett for over an hour and that she was still not able to see the fact that he was in complete shock and not clear on what he was doing. In a way she is amazed that he was able to fool her like that, even though he didn't do it on purpose. After that incident they had weekly sessions for six month. He took it very hard to lose a friend like that and survivor's guilt was also an issue that they talked about in lengths._

JoJo is back in the present when she feels being watched. Steve is looking intensely at her, like he wants to gauge her reaction.

"I'm not mad at you," she softly says and can practically see how the tension is leaving him, "I'm sorry I didn't see that coming. It is not your fault Steve. You know that, don't you?"

"I don't want to lose it again," Steve is silently admitting to his worries.

"You're not 'loosing' it Steve. You went through a terrible ordeal in a place where you should feel absolutely safe. That made it so much worse, that it happened in a hospital. We will work through all the things that are going through your head."

"How much time do you have," Steve can even joke a little, he feels much better, just talking to her helps already.

"All the time we need. Yesterday you still had a fever and the sedative was not strong enough to knock you out. By the way it was the right thing to request one, you did good on that. I left the 'order' to give you something if you requested it. Sorry that it was not strong enough. Catherine said she thinks you had a flashback and a panic attack. Did you?"

"I think so, I couldn't keep the panic at bay and I was scared to break down in front of Danny. I don't want him to see me like this again," Steve is looking at JoJo and is not sure to say the next words, she got very angry the last time he did, "I don't want him to think I'm crazy."

"First of all you are not crazy, you know I hate that word. You may have ASD and that is nothing you have to be ashamed of. That can happen to anyone, doesn't matter how strong someone is, the right trigger and even the strongest person will suffer some psychological 'problems'. Don't you dare call yourself crazy ever again," JoJo stops when she sees him grinning, "You did that on purpose to get me going. Steve that is not nice," but she is grinning back. They are back on familiar ground and they can start to work on Steve's 'issues'.

"Sorry."

"No you're not. Okay let me tell you what happened yesterday. Danny called me and was really bent out of shape, maybe I should have a session with him," she is grinning at Steve who silently laughs at that, "He told me what happened or what Cath told him to tell me," she is now smiling when she thinks about the phone call from Williams, "When I got here it was quite a picture, you were lying on Cath, happily drooling on her shoulder. It was not easy to get her out of the bed, even in your sleep you clung to her, you almost had a death grip on her. We then made you as comfortable as possible and I gave you the right amount of sedation so that you slept through the night. In the morning I talked to Mark, your Cardiologist and your Orthopedic Surgeon, I decided to sedate you for the rest of the day. You slept almost the whole Monday away. It's almost five pm now. You needed this rest Steve. I underestimated the stress your stay at Tripler caused you. I'm sorry about that."

Before Steve can say anything they get interrupted by a nurse who is bringing his next injection.

"Steve you want me to do it," Dorothy is smiling at him, she was always really nice to him when he was here last week.

"No thank you it's fine, I'll do it."

"Okay, anything else you need," Steve shakes his head when he takes the wrapped syringe, "call me if you need anything." She leaves them alone again.

Steve is struggling to get his hospital gown, that he is still wearing, out of the way one-handed without exposing himself completely.

"You didn't think of that, did you? Come here let me help you," JoJo is pulling it out from under the blanket careful to keep the blanket in place.

"Thanks," he is opening the wrapper with his teeth and takes the wipe out, clears a patch of skin and injects the drug into his system. The pain is localized in his back again, not much fun, since his lower back already hurts, but at least the dizziness is really mild.

"Here give me that," JoJo takes the empty syringe and puts the cap back on the needle and puts it on the tray to give it to a nurse later for save disposal.

Steve is trying to get his gown back down, without much success, so she just lifts his blanket without looking and after a few moments he is 'dressed' again.

"Thank you," he smiles at her but is still blushing, "Where were we? Oh yeah it's not your fault, I didn't even know, when you were here I wasn't feeling so bad. It started a little later when I thought about what happened, I shouldn't have done that. I knew I wasn't ready to face it. I feel a lot clearer about it now and a lot calmer. Am I still on medication?"

"No you're not, you don't need drugs to manage your ASD. We haven't even established yet if this episode classifies for ASD."

"It was not the first."

"I know, but all your flashbacks or panic attacks, breakdowns or other problems where either while you were under heavy drugs, high fever, and while you suffered a severe head injury. Steve before we can say that you indeed have ASD you need to be clear headed first. All the problems you experienced up until now were aided by your concussion. I'm pretty sure even you are underestimating the severity of your injury."

"You think?"

"Yes my friend, you are not yourself at the moment. There are a few personality changes visible. Don't look so panicked, that is nothing bad, it's normal with a concussion to experience some 'changes'. I'm talking about that you are very emotional, you are very open and accessible. You are very vulnerable and take a lot what people saying at face value. You have no shields up at the moment and that is why you are hit so hard by what is happening to you. So what we will do is wait and see. We will talk about what happened, but we will not panic about it. Is that understood, Commander?"

"Yes Captain, ma'am."

"Good. Are you tired?"

"No actually I'm hungry. And can I get dressed, I hate these hospital clothes, and please can the damn Foley be taken out?"

"You really don't like that one, do you?"

"NO, would you? It fucking hurts and it already gave me an infection. Sorry for cursing."

"I think that's okay, I won't tell anyone. I'm going to get Mark and I'm sure you will get rid of all the stuff around you. Not the heart monitor though they will keep you on that a little longer."

"Why? Was there another episode?"

"No. Everything is fine, it's standard protocol to keep it on for three days, so you have to live with that a little while longer. But I'm sure the rest will go. Steve promise me something, if you start to feel anxious in any way for whatever reason you call me."

"Yeah I will, I promise. But actually I don't feel too bad. I'm not scared to lose it again, well I'm a bit worried but I can handle that. I feel kind of confused, I can't really sort through my thoughts, it's in disorder somehow. Before I opened my eyes I had a whole conversation with myself, that was kind of disturbing."

"Yeah I could see that, I must tell you that was pretty entertaining," Steve is sending a very annoyed look her way that makes her actually laugh, "That is what I'm talking about. Steve don't worry we all talk to ourselves all the time. As long as you don't do it out loud and that they are not your only conversations, don't worry about it."

H50 – H50 – H50

When Danny is entering Steve's hospital room at almost eight pm he is doing that with great apprehension, not knowing what to expect. He is not sure anymore how to behave around Steve. He never saw his friend so vulnerable and 'weak' as in the last two weeks and seeing him having that 'episode', he doesn't even know what to call it, really threw him for a loop. He wants to be there for his friend, he just doesn't know how. Cath told him to be just himself, Steve is still just Steve, no matter what happened yesterday. _She is right, just be yourself, great now I'm talking to myself, if this is going on much longer I'm going to need therapy_. Danny is shaking his head a little and opens the door completely and stops in his tracks. He did not expect to see what is now in front of him.

On the covers of his bed is Steve a tray of food in front of him and he's happily sucking on a giant milkshake. His leg is now resting on some pillows and his arm is lying half on his stomach with a pillow at his side, so that the arm gets support and doesn't slide down.

"Danny! Come in, you want a drink? They brought me soda and a shake," he is smiling at his friend who is still standing in the door, "Hey you wanna come in or not?"

"Hey," Danny is finally stepping in and closes the door. He makes his way around the bed and getting a chair all the way thinking if he imagined the last thirty-six hours.

"Danny you okay?"

"What? I'm fine. Steve I'm confused, are you feeling all right, I mean don't get me wrong I'm happy to see you like this, but frankly that is not what I expected. You look, I don't know how you look, but not like I thought you would."

"Hey! Don't forget to breathe Danny," Steve has to laugh at his friend who really looks like he is more than a little confused. "I'm feeling much better Danny," he is telling his friend with a calm and soft voice. "My fever is finally down, I'm much calmer and more in control now. I'm not okay, I'm still a bit anxious and I'm really glad that I don't have to spend the night alone, I don't think I could do that. I'm sorry you had to see me like that again," Steve is now looking away from his friend.

"I am so sorry that you had to go through that in the. . ."

"Danny I can't talk about that right now, please don't. I'm not ready to face that again, please let's not talk about what. . .," Steve is closing his eyes and takes some deep breaths when his hand is suddenly grabbed by Danny.

"Steve it's all right you're not there. You are here with me, you're safe, nothing is going to happen, I won't let anything happen to you. Come on just breathe in and out," Danny keeps talking and holds his hand just like JoJo told him to do.

"You talked to JoJo," Steve is smiling at his friend when he has his breathing under control again; he doesn't feel like he might lose control but he is still glad that his friend is here with him.

"Yeah well you know I felt like a complete idiot."

"What do you mean," Steve looks at his friend not understanding. He takes his shake and slurps the rest out of it.

"Yesterday. I was at a complete loss at what to do. When you, you know, I just stood there and felt so. . ."

"Helpless?"

"Yeah."

"Well then you know how I felt. I couldn't stop it. I felt it coming for a few hours but I couldn't stop it. I should have called JoJo, but I thought if I go to sleep it will be fine, but the sedative just made me lose the rest of my control. I. . .Danny I hate that you saw me like that again."

"What? Why Steven, I don't think anything less of you because of that."

"I know you don't, I think. But I know you have a problem with me seeing a therapist and seeing me like that only adds to your opinion that I'm crazy," Steve is very softly telling him.

"I don't think you're crazy. I don't know how I feel about you seeing a therapist, really I don't and we should maybe discuss that, but not now. Steve I do not think that you're crazy, please believe that. And seeing you like yesterday only hurts, because you are hurting and that is something I have a real problem with. You are so strong all the time and to see you like that is not easy. But that does not change my opinion of you or my feelings for you or my friendship."

"Wow. Thank you. You do know that you said that I'm not crazy twice? So if you call me crazy out in the field again I will remind you of this conversation."

"We will not talk about this conversation ever again, and just forget what I just told you," Danny is grinning at his friend who is still sucking on the straw but he is sure that it is empty for a while now. "You want me to get you another one?"

"Huh?"

"Your shake, you want another one? It's from the cafeteria isn't it?"

"Would you get me one," Steve actually looks more hopeful than a child at Christmas morning.

"Yeah sure, what do you want?"

"Banana! Is there another flavor for a shake?"

"Are you really asking me that, I could tell you what we use in Jersey for a 'real' shake."

"Ah maybe 'after' you get my shake?"

"Okay I'm going, you behave yourself, eat your vegetables or no desert."

"Oh you can have my desert, it's green jello," Steve says with a disgusted face.

"Hey no dissing green jello, it's the best," Steve couldn't hear the rest of it because his friend was on his way to get him another shake. He is really glad that they are still able to have such easy conversations. He was worried that talking with Danny would be awkward, but it's just like it always was. It's easy to talk to his best friend. Maybe this is going to be all right after all.

Later at around nine Catherine will be back and she will spend the night, for which he is eternal grateful. He doesn't think that he is ready to be alone for more than an hour.

Tomorrow he will be allowed to get up again and the Cardiologist will check him out and already said that he will most likely get rid of the heart monitor.

The throbbing in his leg stopped a few hours ago and his back is a lot better by now, only his arm is still bothering him and he is really angry that he lost two weeks in the healing process.

Tomorrow he will have his first session with JoJo.

And on Wednesday he will be released and start with his recovery at home.

Steve smiles to himself, all in all he is not so bad off. Yes he still has broken bones, he still is in the hospital, he still has a lot to talk about with JoJo and he has a lot to remember. There are still huge gabs in his memory, not just about his ordeal. And they still have to find his capturers.

But his friends are all there for him and are willing to continue to support him on his way back on to his two feet. They found him and rescued him in more way than one, without them he would not have found back to himself. And he is sure that the way of his recovery will be a lot easier with his friends at his side.

Especially the one that is just coming back with another milkshake from the cafeteria and a huge smile on his face. Steve can't but smile back, takes his shake and start happily sucking the delicious bana. . ., "Danny! What the heck? Strawberry? I'm allergic to strawberries," Steve starts to cough.

"What!"

Steve has to laugh at Danny's panicked face, "just kidding," he keeps slurping his shake, it's not banana but it's not bad.

"That is so not funny! I'll get you for that Steven. Just you wait."

"I'll wait for you, don't worry. What's your shake?"

"Chocolate."

"Can I try?"

"No."

"Oh come on."

"No."

"Danno."

"Steven."

H50 – H50 - H50

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><p><em><strong>Thank you all so very much for reading until the end. Thank you for all the great support, your reviews, your countless private messages, alerts and just plain reading.<strong>_

_**I hope you all had as much fun reading as I had with writing this one.**_

_**The sequel will be up soon and I hope you will enjoy it just as much.**_

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><p><em><strong>Here is the summary of the new story, please keep in mind that I really suck at summaries. :-)<strong>_

**Recovery**

**This story is set 16 weeks after the events of ‚Search and Rescue'. Well sort of.**

**Steve and Danny are in trouble. They went to investigate down at the harbor and a few hours later they are still not back at HQ. As Danny said 'I just knew something like this would happen with you being back!' One thing's for sure it's never boring with Steve around, he can get you into trouble faster than you can even blink. **

**Find out how Steve and Danny are going to manage in their predicament, while you learn all about the weeks that led to 'that' situation.**

**You ready? Then dive in!**

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><p><em><strong>You don't really think I'm going to tell you in this sneak peek in what kind of predicament they are, do you? Nope not gonna happen, but as promised a scene from the story:<strong>_

**RECOVERY**

**Chapter 1 - ? (nope not gonna tell you the title)**

**Five weeks ago (81 _days after the crash)_**

There is that annoying beeping sound that wakes Cath up. With a groan she turns and is looking at the clock on the nightstand, the time on it elicit an even loader groan, four am. The beeping is still going on but is now even more muffled than before. It takes her a few seconds to realize that the sound is coming from Steve's watch on his wrist, the one that is beeping every five hours to indicate that it is time for a new injection. His arm with the annoyingly beeping watch is buried under his body and Steve is making no move that would indicate that he is even remotely hearing the alarm. Which Cath finds more than a little odd, since he is a very light sleeper. But instead of waking him up she just makes her way out of bed and down to the kitchen to get one of his syringes. When she comes back up he is lying on his back still fast asleep but at least the alarm is off.

"Steve? Come on wake up, time for your meds."

"Hmmmm, go 'way," that is not the response she is hoping for, but at least he is opening his eyes somewhat and looks at her rather sleepily. She is not waiting for him to come fully awake but just injects his meds into his upper belly. That does wake him up.

"Shit, argh he was lying, you know," Steve is curling in on his side and squeezes his eyes shut.


End file.
